Korean Acupuncture Offers a Focused Approach to Stimulating Your Natural Energy Flow

Influenced by Chinese acupuncture, Korean acupuncture has evolved into a similar but separate method of treatment. Practicing in Escondido, CA, Dr. Bret Mosher is a state-licensed acupuncturist and is able to use this meticulous treatment option to stimulate the flow of energy in your body. As an alternative to traditional acupuncture, this style involves fewer needles and can be less intimidating to patients who are nervous about their use.

What Makes Korean Acupuncture Different?

Because Chinese practitioners brought acupuncture to Korea, the Korean technique is based upon many of the same tenets as the traditional Chinese style. Both types rest on the needle-based manipulation of qi, or energy flow in the body, through the stimulation of particular points known as acupoints. If diseases or medical conditions are the result of disrupted qi flow, then acupuncture can correct that flow.

Korean acupuncture often uses distinctive copper needles over stainless steel. However, the primary differences between these two styles are where and how many of these acupoints are stimulated. On the one hand, traditional Chinese acupuncture describes as many as two thousand points situated along twenty pathways of your body's energy called meridians. Depending on the patient’s condition, any combination of these points may be accessed with a needle for treatment, using a few to a couple dozen needles or more.

Korean acupuncture, on the other hand, uses four needles at most and focuses exclusively on the five acupoints beneath the elbows and knees. Known as the five shu points, these acupoints are considered among the most powerful and correspond to each of the five elements or wu xing. 

What are the Five Shu?

In traditional thought, the power of the five shu points is a result of how qi moves through the body: it originates in the deep, primary organs or zàng-fû, then flows up and collects in more superficial tissues, such as the muscle and skin. As the most superficial acupoints in the body, the five shu collect the greatest amount of qi. Accessing them allows practitioners to manipulate qi throughout the body without the risk of damaging vulnerable internal organs. 

In western medicine, qi is believed to correspond to the peripheral nervous system. Consequently, some studies have hypothesized that the reason for these large centers of influence is a high concentration of sensory nerves located in the hands and feet, which connect back to a huge number of nerves through the spinal cord. A number of researchers have suggested that the activation of these acupoints stimulates the brain via the nerves, which in turn triggers the release of various hormones or chemicals to the affected organs.

Like the traditional Chinese style, Korean acupuncture can be customize to treat your specific symptoms while still accommodating medical needs and preferences.

How Does Korean Acupuncture Work?

As in Chinese acupuncture, practitioners of Korean acupuncture aim to balance the amount of qi in the body. If there is too much in one organ system, the excess is reduced or sedated, allowing the qi to increase or tonify a system that is lacking. Dr. Mosher will use two needles to reduce or slow qi in one organ system, and two more needles to increase a second organ system. This approach focuses on balance and establishing a harmonious state of energy in your body. This balance of tonifying and sedating is achieved through a number of special techniques:

• Inserting needles in alignment with a patient’s breathing pattern
• Rotating needles
• Removing needles slowly or quickly to trigger your qi

Reach Out Today

Like the traditional Chinese style, Korean acupuncture can be customize to treat your specific symptoms while still accommodating medical needs and preferences. Contact our practice today to schedule an appointment with Dr. Mosher and discuss your options for treatment.