Introduction
Acupressure, according to Accupressure by Michael Reed Gach, p.3, is 'an ancient healing art that uses the fingers to press key points on the surface of the skin to stimulate the body's natural self-curative abilities'. It differs from Acupuncture in that it uses the physical touch of the practitioner's fingers to relieve pain, discomfort or particular ailments, not the use of fine needles that are inserted into the patient's body. Both use the same pressure points, of which there is said to be 365.
How does it work?
Acupressure uses the idea that humans - as well as animals - are comprised of a physical body with a system of energy pathways called meridians. On each of these meridians - and there are said to be twelve major ones - are energy points called 'acupuncture points' or 'pressure points'. If there is a blockage in one of these pressure points, this blockage is said to cause problems with the flow of energy along the meridian this blocked acupuncture point is on. The blockage itself is energetic in nature. If, for example, an acupuncture point was blocked on the heart meridian, it may result in energetic problems with the affected organ - in this case, the heart - which, if not addressed immediately, will manifest into a physical disorder. So manifests disease.
When we've hurt our ankle, we may be inclined to rub it. In the same way, applying pressure to a point that corresponds to the area where we may be experiencing pain or a physical ailment, is thought to relieve the energetic blockage that caused the physical disorder in the first place.
But does it work?
Does acupressure work?
It might seem logical to assume that accupressure, like acupuncture, could work, on the basis that it obviously works physically on the body. It is not like crystal healing which is where the placement of crystals is believed to alleviate illness - through the crystals' energies. Instead, acupressure and acupuncture physically manipulate the body, often resulting in some degree of pain or discomfort during the treatment.
A retired man in his sixties underwent a few weeks' acupressure treatment for his knees, which had degerative knee problems. With each treatment, the problems lessened and lessened, even though he had suffered from them for many years. After the acupuncture, his knees were much better (the problems went altogether). Despite being a complete sceptic regarding matters concerning psychics, mediums and the like, he believes that acupuncture can and does work, thanks to the experience.
The above anecdote is completely true, although it is easy to see how acupuncture may work as a 'placebo effect' if the person is desperate enough to believe. Did the acupuncture work for the man purely because he was desperate enough to give it a go? Or did it make a difference because it involved physical manipulation? Is it possible that it really worked, or was some other factor involved?
In the opinion of another sceptic, acupuncture can work because of the
stress it exerts on an already stressed muscle of the body. The stress
thus builds up to the extent that the muscle is forced to loosen,
resulting in the relief in the particular ailment. But what has science got to say about it?
Scientific studies
One study (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4274564/) found evidence in favour of acupuncture working for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). 'The purpose of the study was to assess the effects of catgut embedding acupuncture in improving of IBS.' It used three conditions: one group received clofac drug for IBS (DO), another group received 'catgut embedding acupuncture' (AP), whilst the third group received sham acupuncture (SA). Each group was comprised of 20 participants and the condition was double-blind. The 'Symptoms, pain, depression and anxiety' was evaluated before and after two weeks at the end of study.
The results found that 'There was statistically significant difference between AP and SA and DO
in constipation and bloating. Differences that were statistically
significant favored acupuncture on pain'.
The conclusion was 'Our finding showed a significant positive associated between acupuncture
and IBS. Catgut embedding acupuncture is a new method which can
eliminated IBS symptoms and can use as alternative therapeutic method
for improvement of IBS.'
Clearly, if there is scientific evidence in support of there being a real effect in using acupuncture for treating certain ailments, then that evidence would also be relevant for acupressure.
Another study also found evidence that acupuncture was helpful for fibromyalgia (http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0482-50042014000600431&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en). This study aimed to 'evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of fibromyalgia,
considering the immediate response of the visual analogue pain scale (VAS) as its
primary outcome.'. The study was randomised and double-blind and involved 36 participants. Twenty-one underwent Traditional Chinese acupuncture, whilst the other fourteen had sham acupuncture. 'For pain assessment, the
subjects completed a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) before and immediately after the
proposed procedure. The mean change in VAS was compared among groups.'
The results found the VAS scores to be significantly higher in the conditions that did not involve actual acupuncture, whilst the effect size for the real acupuncture condition was 'considered a large effect'. It was therefore concluded that 'Acupuncture has proven effective in the immediate pain reduction in patients with
fibromyalgia, with a quite significant effect size.'
Not surprisingly, however, some newspapers are still cynical of acupuncture - as they usually are when it comes to complementary medicine. In an article from July 2013, The Guardian published an article on acupuncture, featuring a few studies that found only minor differences in favour of acupuncture when compared to placebo. It raises some other explanations for how acupuncture might work, for example 'the gate control theory of pain', which is 'based on the idea that the spinal cord contains a neural
"gate" that can open and close to reduce or enhance pain messages
passing to the brain. Stress and tension can open these gates, as can
boredom, lack of activity and focusing attention on pain. Relaxation,
distraction and physical activity can close the gates.
The theory remains controversial, but could explain why distraction
and rubbing arms appear to ease pain. Similarly, it could also explain
why the pinpricks of acupuncturists' needles do the same for some
people.
As to whether acupuncture works or not, the question requires further research, as there seem to be only a few studies on it - some find statistically significant findings that acupuncture works, whilst the rest find that it works no better than a placebo.
References
Accupressure by Michael Reed Gach
Accupressure's potent points - by Michael Reed Gach
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4274564/ - accessed 26/9/15
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0482-50042014000600431&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en - accessed 26/9/15
