A person can be allergic to anything, including oneself. What does this mean - that you break out in hives in your own presence? Not usually. It is possible to be allergic to your own body chemicals: hormones, neurotransmitters, even your own DNA! According to Dr. Devi Nambudripad, founder of NAET, you can be allergic to any part of your own body.
Being allergic to a part of one's own body is typically what is called an autoimmune disease. (Please see AcupunctureToday.com for my previous article on autoimmune disease in the December 2001 issue.) Certainly it is possible to be allergic to parts of one's own body, but it is my experience that the reaction is actually a response to some kind of infection (such as a lingering pathogenic factor, or LPF) rather than a response to one's own body. Chronic infections are extremely common and cause a huge range of chronic symptoms, especially allergies, but they may also cause many other serious disorders.
On a karmic/spiritual level, on the level of life purpose, life path, destiny and choice, there is room for a great deal of conflict with oneself. Conflict within can manifest as an allergy to yourself. If society's message tells you to make one choice, but your heart tells you to make another, which do you choose? If you continually ignore your own purpose, path, and your own heart's desire, you can set up a great deal of self-conflict. You can become quite angry with yourself, but not necessarily be conscious of it. The parts of us that feel ignored, neglected and disavowed can act out in ways that make us quite ill. Allergies are a common response from one part of ourselves against another. Now that you're sick, will you listen to yourself? Or do you have to get sicker - or even die?
Learning to listen to your quiet inner voice, meditating, acting on your own truth, and listening to the messages that illness brings, can help prevent more serious problems in the long run, and even resolve the ones that already exist. Certainly a skilled acupuncturist or other practitioner can help someone sort out difficulties such as these. A skilled acupuncturist can help people who are lost find their way back to their path. Such skill is rare, but it can be developed, learned, and taught.
TrA-2, my primary needle location, I needle 95% of the time and I think it works the best. You’ll know you have the right point location when you discover the muscle twitching when applying electric stimulation.
The NCCAOM distributed the Job Task Analysis (JTA) Survey on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, to all licensed acupuncturists and herbal medicine practitioners. Your participation in this effort is invaluable in defining NCCAOM exam content outlines at the entry-to-practice level. The data collected is essential for recognition and advancing the acupuncture and herbal medicine profession with government agencies, employers and other institutions.
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On Dec. 7, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its “Guideline for Non-Surgical Management of Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Adults in Primary and Community Care Settings.” The purpose of the 244-page document is to “provide evidence-based recommendations on nonsurgical interventions for chronic primary LBP in adults” that will improve outcomes.
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