Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Acknowledgements Introduction Part One - EXPLAINING THE UNEXPLAINABLE Chapter One - A SPIRITED SCIENCE Chapter Two - CHINESE HEALTH SCIENCE Chapter Three - THE SCIENCE OF SORE SPOTS Chapter Four - FIVE TO GO Chapter Five - YIN/YANG THINKING Part Two - SEEKING PROFESSIONAL CARE Chapter Six - STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF CHINESE AND WESTERN MEDICINE Chapter Seven - ANSWERING COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT TREATMENT Chapter Eight - HOW TO FINDA QUALIFED PRACTITIONER Part Three - SELF - CARE Chapter Nine - TREATING YOURSELF, FAMILY, AND FRIENDS WITH ACUPRESSURE Chapter Ten - TREATING COMMON HEALTH PROBLEMS WITH ACUPRESSURE APPENDIX A - THE YELLOW EMPEROR’S TWELVE LAWS OF YIN AND YANG APPENDIX B - ANCIENT TAOIST INSTRUCTIONS ON ATTAINING THE ABSOLUTE MIND RESOURCES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX ABOUT THE AUTHOR Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA • Penguin Group (Canada), 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M V B , Canada (a division 4 3 2 of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), Cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa • Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Copyright © 2005 by Matthew D. Bauer All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions. Published simultaneously in Canada Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bauer, Matthew D. The healing power of acupressure and acupuncture : a complete guide to timeless traditions and modern practice / by Matthew D. Bauer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. eISBN : 978-1-440-64970-7 Neither the author(s) nor the publisher is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting a physician. All matters regarding health require medical supervision. Neither the author(s) nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss, injury, or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. The opinions expressed in this book represent the personal views of the author(s) and not of the publisher. Most Avery books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. Special books or book excerpts also can be created to fit specific needs. For details, write Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. http://us.penguingroup.com I dedicate this to my lovely and loving wife, Gayle: You deserve the dedication in a book of passionate love poems. Unfortunately, my skill as a poet is limited to limericks about men from Nantucket, so I’m afraid this will have to do. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I WANT TO THANK MY PATIENTS, who showed their trust in me by letting me be involved with their care and from whom I learned so much. Whatever else I may do, I am first and foremost a healer, and a healer’s blessings are measured by the gratitude of those he serves. Thanks to you, I have been blessed indeed. I also want to thank my family, my wife, Gayle, and my sons Eric and Bryce, for their understanding over the years I worked on this project. I found out something about myself while writing this book: I am not such a nice guy to be around when I am anguishing over exactly how to word my thoughts on a subject I care deeply about. Those closest to me took the brunt of my moods and put up with me anyway. Gayle also caught many mistakes proofreading, and Bryce corrected many of my grammatical errors. I want to offer a special thanks to three people who were most responsible for making this book possible. Christel Winkler is a wonderful acquisitions editor who wields a light but spot-on scalpel and who took a chance going to bat for a very rough first-time author. Bert P. Krages is a literary agent who likewise took a chance on me and not only did a wonderful job representing me but also gave me extremely savvy advice early on that undoubtedly helped us find a publisher. Claudia Suzanne is an editor, book doctor, and compassionate cheerleader who literally took a cardboard box full of very rough drafts and somehow forged a workable structure for me to begin putting something readable together. Of course, even with the support of these three, I would not have anything to show for my work if the decision- makers at Penguin did not see something worthwhile in this project, for which I am so very grateful. Donna Ikkanda, Jeanine Henderson, and Ron Brown provided me with fine illustrations, and copy editor Martha Ramsey tightened things up nicely. Some of my colleagues in the healing arts who gave me invaluable feedback include Dr. Elad Schiff, M.D., Dr. Yoon-Hang Kim, M.D., MPH, Ann Bailey, R.N., M.S., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., and Corinne Axel-rod, MPH, L.Ac., Dipl.Ac. I attempted to go to the direct sources whenever possible and was fortunate to get help from key people in the following organizations: Dort Bigg, Executive Director of the Accreditation Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Debra Presinger, Interim CEO of the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, C. James Dowden, Executive Director, and Zeus Rivera, MIS Associate of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, Dr. John Amaro, D.C., FIAMA, Dipl.Ac. (IAMA) (NCCAOM), L.Ac., of the International Academy of Medical Acupuncture, Barbara Esher, AOBTA CL., Dipl. ABT&Ac. (NCCAOM), L.Ac., Director of Education, American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia, Dr. David Field, N.D., L.Ac., former President of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association, and Dr. Sally Lamont, ND., L.Ac., former Executive Director of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association. Thank you all for your time and help. I also wish to extend a special thanks to Dr. Zhang-Hee Cho, of the University of California at Irvine, for his immense contributions to the field of acupuncture research as well as for his friendship. I could not begin to list all of my patients who offered advice and support over the many years I worked on this while I was working on them. Some, though, deserve special mention: the Ross family—Floyd Senior for his clear thinking and introducing me to the work of Joseph Campbell, Floyd Junior for insights on the subject of physics, and especially Kashi Ross for her pointing out that my early attempts to explain the concept of qi were lacking. Others include Allan Andrews, the late Mildred (Billie) Talley, and Mitzi Hiett. I also want to mention the help of a patient, friend, and pioneer in the field of holistic health care information, Suzan Walter, President of the American Holistic Health Association. I would need an entire book to acknowledge the gratitude I feel toward my foremost teacher, Hua-Ching Ni, a.k.a. Master Ni. I could not imagine anyone else who brings together so many qualities: brilliant insight, truly transcendental spiritualism, humility, humor, an unmatched work ethic, a unique balance of embodying the essence of the ancient with the practical need to stay current . . . the list goes on. As highly as I think of this man, I would be doing a disservice to his teachings if I did not acknowledge that he was trained to pass along the insights derived from those who for thousands of years lived as one with nature, and sought to preserve the lessons they learned. The many insights I learned from Master Ni were made possible