Doctor says acupuncture can restore body's energy flow

By Dustin Shipman

dshipman@joplinglobe.com

For some people, the idea of being poked with a needle — even to get a flu shot — can be a scary thought. Thoughts of acupuncture may even conjure images of voodoo dolls and human pin cushions.

However, Dr. Kent Sutterer has been helping to introduce the benefits and healing powers of the ancient practice and using it to treat patients at his Joplin office for more than five years.

He offered several points about acupuncture that people may not be aware of.

What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is thought to have originated in China and is most commonly associated with traditional Chinese medicine; however, different types of acupuncture are practiced and taught throughout the world.

It involves puncturing the skin with needles at key points in an attempt to restore energy flow to damaged parts of the body so that it may heal itself.

“Acupuncture is based on energetic channels within the body, and if you have a blockage in the body due to a injury or an organic problem, it slows down that energy,” Sutterer said. “Acupuncture actually adds energy back into the system so that you can get back on with your life.”

How does it work?

That mental image of patients with hundreds of needles poked into their skin that television and movies might have left isn’t accurate.

The truth is, acupuncture treatments are relatively quick, averaging less than an hour, and usually doesn’t take more than a handful of needles to perform.

“The needle is made of two metals,” Sutterer said. “The shaft of the needle is very small, about a third the size of a hypodermic needle. The shaft is one metal and the end of it is another metal and it has a basic dielectric effect — the same thing found in a battery.”

Unlike a hypodermic needle, the acupuncture needle is solid and has a pointed tip, which separates instead of cuts the tissue, he said.

“We also use electricity itself,” Sutterer said. “The needle is a type of small battery, but we hook it up to a big 9-volt battery with some wires to affect the change a little more rapidly. Four-thousand years ago, people had more patience to wait for a number of visits to be affected by the change, but today people want to be fixed now. We tend to get a little more aggressive with things, and it works better.”

In most cases, he said, the procedure is quick, not painful and it is a rarity that a patient would even bleed from the needles.

Why use acupuncture?

The practice has been used to treat everything from nausea to back pain. Sutterer said that the basis of the procedure is just to add energy to the body where it has been lost.

“We use this as an adjunct to family practice problems, osteopathic problems and pain problems, and it is very useful,” he said. “Any number of things can be treated with this, even things like recurrent bladder infections can be treated. Really, just about any problem can be treated. Of course, if you have an infection, then you are going to need antibiotics, or if you have heart arrhythmia it is going to require more extensive care, both Eastern and Western care.”

Sutterer said that the majority of people who seek acupuncture treatment are having problems relating to muscle and skeletal problems, such as aches and pains in the back and joints, although there are several other disorders that it can be used for.

“Most people come back feeling better then they did before,” he said. “Sometimes it only takes one or two treatments, but others require more long-term treatments depending on their disposition to a certain injury and how long they have had the pain.”

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