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March 20, 2014 — A Matawan chiropractor is combining ancient Eastern healing techniques with modern Western chiropractic care in his clinic’s holistic treatments.
According to Peter Bufano, DC, of Old Bridge Spine and Wellness Center, acupuncture’s ability to relieve pain and assist in the body’s natural immune response and healing process make it a sensible accompaniment to other non-surgical wellness modalities.
“Our primary goal is to address every aspect of our patients’ health and wellness, and the best way to do that is to employ multiple techniques, including acupuncture, spinal adjustment, and other measures,” he says.
Bufano and Sangwoo Kim, the clinic’s acupuncturist, often work together on a patient’s wellness plan. Bufano notes that acupuncture’s history as an effective healing technique goes back at least 4,000 years to ancient China, when practitioners first developed the map of “meridians” used to guide the insertion of thin needles into particular points on the body.
“The ancients believed that the body’s life energy, or chi, traveled along set channels, and when an illness or injury came along to disrupt those channels, pain or loss of function could result,” Bufano explains. He points out that the central nervous system communicates electrical signals to the entire body much like the Chinese descriptions of chi energy.
Research indicates that the needles may signal the release of both opioids and endorphins, natural substances produced by the body to defeat pain signals and restore feelings of wellbeing, says Bufano.
“It also appears to alter the calcium ion levels in nerve cells, which affects their electrical action,” he adds, allowing for enhanced immune system activity, circulatory stimulation and other processes that speed cellular repair in injury or disease cases. Bufano says the acupuncture offered by Kim can also help with the treatment of chronic pain associated with degenerative joint conditions, headaches and migraines, or fibromyalgia.
Bufano stresses that the use of multiple techniques and strategies is central to his clinic’s holistic approach to chiropractic care. He notes that massage therapy, nutritional therapy, and laser therapy also make a natural complement to more traditional chiropractic care techniques.
“We treat the body as a single entity with many complex components, and coming at the problem from multiple angles allows for more complete and effective care,” he says.
The practitioner notes that the needles create no discomfort and that a typical session takes less than one hour, although most patients require several sessions to achieve long-lasting results.
Source: Old Bridge Spine and Wellness Center
