Introduction

Some people who come for acupuncture treatment for the first time have had the experience of trying various treatment methods that gave them little or no relief.  They wonder whether they will every find a doctor who can help them to heal their bodies.  Having nothing to lose and feeling that at this point they would try anything, they come to our clinic when someone suggests that they try acupuncture.

Other people shrink away from coming to the clinic due to fear that acupuncture will be painful, even when they know from others that it is beneficial.  Still other people are indecisive coming to the clinic because their insurance will not cover acupuncture and they do not know how they will be able to cover continuing treatments.

These are all understandable concerns.  We have prepared this website with the purpose of answering such concerns, and with the hope of having our patients gain a truer understanding of the spirit of acupuncture.  We call this style of healing, hari.

 If illness cannot be cured merely by the application of treatment methods or taking medications, then neither can simply having health insurance fend it off.  From the Japanese acupuncture or hari point of view, it is only when the compassion, empathy, and techniques of a doctor who accurately practices natural medicine joins together with the natural healing ability of the patient who is afflicted by illness, that illness takes a turn toward the path of convalescence.

 It is our hope that the patients who have come to this clinic today will, through the experience of receiving treatment, by all means experience the magnificence of the power of life.  For the possibility of life is boundless.  No matter how difficult you were told that your case may be, please never despair, continue to harbor the flame of hope, and regularly come to receive treatment.
Characteristic of Our Acupuncture Clinic

When Ki ( or life force) flows freely through the meridians, the body is balanced and healthy, but if the energy becomes blocked, stagnated or weakened, it can result in physical, mental , or emotional illnesses.   An imbalance in a person's body can result from inappropriate emotional responses such as: excess anger, over-excitement, self-pity, deep grief and fear. Environmental factors such as cold, damp/humidity, wind, dryness, and heat can also cause imbalance so as factors such as wrong diet, too much sex, overwork and too much exercise.

To restore the balance, the acupuncturist uses the acupuncture points that will counteract that imbalance. Treatment centers on supplementing the primary deficiency pattern, and balancing the distribution and circulation of Ki within the meridian system.  Therefore, if you have stagnant Ki, he will choose specific points to release it. If it is too weak, he will strengthen it, and so on. The points that the practitioner chooses to use may not necessarily be at the site of the symptoms.

In the United States, acupuncture is used frequently for the treatment of chronic pain conditions such as arthritis, bursitis, back pain, headache, athletic injuries, and posttraumatic and post surgical pain.  It is also used for treating chronic pain associated with immune function dysfunction such as psoriasis (skin disorders), allergies, and asthma.  Acupuncture is also found to be effective for the treatment of mind-body disorders such as anxiety, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, hypertension, insomnia, PMS, menopausal symptoms, infertility and depression. Some modern applications of acupuncture is for the treatment of disorders such as alcoholism, addiction, smoking, and eating disorders.

In this SEI KI CLINIC we practice a purely traditional form the East Asian medical arts.  Our style of acupuncture (Hari) is based primarily on diagnosis through observation of the pulse.  Hari is a refined system of Japanese five phase meridian therapy.  It is largely rooted in the practitioner's acute sensitivity to ki (or life force).

Hari treatments adjust and regulate the balance and flow of ki in and around the meridians (which are pathways through which the life force flows to every nook and cranny of the body) in such a way that the life force can flow uniformly to each of the five viscera and organs.

With that purpose, the practitioner determines the object of treatment (known as the shō or pattern of imbalance) based off of an examination of the overall condition of the patient with particular attention paid to the state of the pulses and abdomen.  Treatment points are selected by giving fundamental consideration to the pattern of imbalance, and also by taking into account the symptoms of complaint as well as the current state of the patient's body.  Then, by using acupuncture needles and moxibustion the practitioner supplements and tones the correct ki (or healthy life force), and then sublimates evil ki (or pathogenic ki) up to a state of correct ki, thereby performing treatment that removes the underlying cause of disease.

The needle techniques are gentle, yet effective on a deep level.  We mostly use very fine stainless steel needles (less than 0.18 mm in diameter) and silver needles.  Moreover, for the principle treatment we use contact or touch needling, which is a noninvasive method.  At this time the patient may feel something like a mosquito bite, or will not feel the needle at all.
 
For moxibustion,  the sensation is very faint since we use tiny cones the size of rice grains.  The essence of hari is completely different from the acupuncture that is based on biomedicine, which aims at stimulating the autonomic nervous system.  It bears no resemblance to the image of giving stimulation by inserting needles into the skin.  That is why so many children come to our clinic for treatment.

Hari fundamentally aims at strengthening the life force, and as such its unique characteristic is that it is applicable to any illness, regardless of whether biomedicine would classify it as being a concern for internal medicine, dermatology, gynecology, or whatever.

Moreover, we provide advice on home therapeutics such as moxibustion, massage, special breathing methods, exercises, and diet based on the diagnosis of the individual and their peculiar needs in relation to health maintenance, chronic illnesses, and long term care.
The Characteristic of Hari and the Differences from Western Medicine

Even though medical and therapeutic practitioners in both the East and the West claim to seek to relieve the suffering of the sick, the point of focus in treatment differs greatly between the two.

Acupuncture, or hari, has been handed down from person to person as a 'benevolent art' and as a form of caring.  Through a long history of 5000 years the existence of the meridians (or pathways of the life force) and the acupuncture points (or places where ki emerges from and enter the body) along the meridians were discovered, and acupuncture organized as a medical system.  For example, it was found that stomachaches were eased by touching a needle to the acupuncture point on the leg that is called Three Li of the Leg.  In this way people came to realize that using needles on, or applying moxibustion to acupuncture points could reduce the suffering of the sick.

Furthermore, another important discovery was that one became filled with vitality and that the many pathogenic symptoms of a sick person faded away bit by bit as the acupuncture points were used to return balance to a number of meridians that had shifted away from their normal state.  Moreover, the focus of this treatment was on how to transform the sick body of one who is suffering into a healthy body, rather than simply using needles or moxibustion directly on the area that is experiencing discomfort.  For that reason the unique examination method (known as the four pillars of examination) and diagnostic method (known as determining the shō or pattern of imbalance) of this hari system were developed and firmly established.  Therefore, a prominent characteristic of hari is that it is not a therapeutic system that narrowly focuses on disease, but instead treats the whole body (including one's life in the fundamental sense).  That is, it does not try to find and treat only precisely defined diseases, but rather aims at giving strength to the whole body and being.  This is how you overcome chronic illness, instead of just treating or managing symptoms.
 
Western biomedicine turns its attention to disease itself.  It searches after the causes of disease in a narrow sense rather than in a whole, and contrives advances in techniques, matching certain medicines to specific pathogenic bacteria or pains, and using surgery for particular tumors.  That is why Western biomedicine specialties, such as internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, clinical psychiatry, and pediatrics, etc., were established as independent fields based on the areas of the body in which certain pathologies tend to manifest.  Thus, it is a fact that biomedicine cannot grasp the whole (i.e. life) by looking at the individual parts.
 
The unique treatment system of hari was established such that, rather than being shackled to individual symptoms, it works to strengthen the overall life force of the person and channel it so people can recover their health by their own natural power.  Since treatment is given from the perspective of strengthening the life force, the intended target of treatment is general, without distinctions such as internal medicine or surgery.  Moreover, it can respond to all symptoms regardless of specific disease appellations.

To recapitulate, the significant characteristics of hari are: 1) a focus on strengthening the life force, 2) a diagnostic system that naturally leads to treatment methods, and 3) the encouragement of spiritual awakening.  More specifically, the first characteristic is that hari strengthens the power of life, the power to live through things, by adjusting and harmonizing the ki that flows in and around the meridians inside the body through the application of needles and moxibustion on the surface of the body.  The second characteristic is that the pattern of imbalance is determined and the treatment method of where and how to use needles or moxibustion is comprehended instantly upon examining the pulses and abdomen of any patient. Hari treatments are rather like solving an equation.  Therefore, there is no waiting until a diagnosis can be made, and never a lack of a treatment technique even though a disease has been identified and named.  Finally, the third characteristic is that hari does not only influence the body, but goes so far as to heal the heart and soul, such that one's innate wisdom can flow forth like the cool and fresh waters of a spring.

Lastly, it can be said of hari that it is a pragmatic treatment modality whereby one pursues a sense of unification between themselves and others, and to the universe at large, by utilizing the Meridian Therapy system to diagnosing patterns of imbalances and by practicing ki therapy.  As a result, one can observe the amelioration of symptoms and the improvement of the pulse--which are two expressions of life.  At the same time, this translates into health and happiness achieved through the growth of both the patient's and the practitioner's spirits.

Treat the Illness Before It Arises

Going to the doctor after already coming down with an illness is obviously too late for the prevention of disease.  One must be careful to lead a life that includes on a routine basis proper exercise, nutrition and rest, and a positive attitude toward life.  That is, it is highly important to take a stance on taking care of one's health in daily life.  In Japan people are more accustomed to hearing about health preservation than about disease treatment.  The four points of proper exercise, nutrition and rest, and a positive attitude toward life are built into the basic concept of health preservation.  To these four points we further recommend acupuncture as one form of regular health management.  Acupuncture can help protect against pathogenesis because it aims at increasing the life force.  It can be said that this is one of the best health preservation methods.  Thus, acupuncture is able to shine as a medicine that treats illness before it arises.
Below is a quotation from the Su Wen, which is for us the most important book in our field, as it is the point of origin for acupuncture.  This quotation sets the foundation for health preservation, and is written in the first chapter of an 81 chapter long text.

The Harmful Effects of Medicines

Synthetic chemicals are able to produced striking effects.  However, no matter how well-made a medicine is, synthetic substances have the drawback that, once introduced into the body they affect the whole body, not only lessening the symptoms of illness but also suppressing normal functions.  That is why medicines always produce side effects, whether taken in large or small doses.

If one is on medications for a long time, such as for chronic disorders like hypertension, diabetes, or allergies, the body's natural healing power and life forces are suppressed, which allows for the appearance of new symptoms one after the other that are not related to the original illness.  The physician is ultimately the cause of such illnesses.  That is, they are iatrogenic diseases.

The human body is a harmonious natural body, and so, by taking decoctions prepared from herbs that were gathered from nature, in like manner to the health preservation based on diet that was introduced in part VII, there will be few negative effects.  Although, it is also a fact that there are very few kampo (or Chinese herbal medicine) practitioners who can prepare natural herbal formulas suited to a patient's specific condition.  Consequently it is a tendency of the times that many kampo practitioners use Western medical theory, which has taken symptomatic treatment as its primary focus.  This usage is completely different from the originally intended usage of kampo.  That is, formulas are being prepared and used on the same level as modern pharmacological drugs.  And even then herbal medicine is treated with chemicals, and so rather than natural herbs, they are closer in form to synthetic medications.  The same thing can be said about our daily foodstuffs.  Therefore, we truly hope that if you should wish to consult a kampo practitioner that you look for one who can prescribe formulas based on natural medicine.