Abstract
Objectives : Acupuncture therapy's reinforcement and reduction method is now widely used in the clinical practices. Meanwhile, there has been a voice of concern since the past that acupuncture has no reinforcement. This thought has not been given enough discussion, and the paper attempts to remedy this absence and verify the validity of the concern. Methods : The acupunctural reinforcement and reduction method found in the Huangdineijing is reviewed, and a number of medical books that discuss the idea of lack of reinforcement in acupuncture are studied. Results : Huangdineijing describes the acupunctural unique feature of reduction. The text explains that acupuncture work in a way that is different that medicine, and thus cannot be used for a disease based on deficiency. In addition, it warned the loss of the primordial qi when needling oneself. Reinforcement in the reinforcement and reduction technique as described in Huangdineijing mainly revolves around preventing the loss of the primordial qi. Conclusions : The purpose of the acupunctural reinforcement and reduction is to control the body's disproportional qi deficiency and excess, where some parts of the body has more qi than others. The reinforcement in "acupunctural reinforcement and reduction method" and the reinforcement in "acupuncture only has reduction and no reinforcement" within the thought of "acupuncture has no reinforcement" are different in that one deals with controlling the imbalance of qi in body, and the other deals with dispelling the deficiency by flowing the qi in the viewpoint of entering and out. This calls for a need to establish the proper acupunctural points, numbers, and times for each disease based on the theory of "acupuncture has no reinforcemen."
