Scalp Acupuncture

ScalpAcupunctureScalp acupuncture was developed as a complete acupuncture system during the 1970’s. Although the scalp has numerous traditionally-identified acupuncture points along several of the major meridians, modern scalp acupuncture differs from traditional acupuncture therapy.

There are three basic features of scalp acupuncture that differentiate it from body acupuncture:

  • Treatment zones have been mapped onto the scalp that are associated with body functions and broad body regions. The zones include a few standard acupuncture points, but the treatment principle for point selection is usually not based on the traditional indication for the point or associated meridian.
  • In general, within a defined zone, the forward part of the zone (nearer the face) is used to treat the upper body, while the rear portion of the zone is used to treat the lower body.  Functional zones, such as sensory, memory, and motor, are usually located at the back and sides of the scalp.
  • In scalp acupuncture, the needles are inserted within a thin layer of loose tissue beneath the scalp surface a distance of about one inch for an adult. The needles are stimulated rapidly by pulling/thrusting, twirling, and electro-stimulation. When using manual manipulation in modern scalp acupuncture, it is common to stimulate the needles for 2–3 minutes at a time, with a rest period of 5–10 minutes between stimulations.

Initial results of clinical work indicated that acupuncture applied to the scalp has good effect on diseases that are associated with cerebral damage, such as a stroke.  Its applications were then extended to virtually all other diseases, but a focus on nervous system disorders is still dominant.

More than 80 diseases are currently treated by this therapeutic method, which is particularly effective in treating disorders of the central nervous system and various acute and chronic pain syndromes such as neurasthenia, anxiety neurosis, and other psychological and psychosomatic disorders, periarthritis of the shoulders, ischialgia, pain in the back and loin, painful heels, and other pain syndromes, hemiplegia, aphasia, senile dementia, and other brain disorders.