Acupressure : User Friendly Self Healing

For the best results it is important to understand the following acupressure principles. Once you understand these principles refer to description on how to stimulate the points and then to symptoms for what points relate to your symptoms. Ways to stimulate talks about fingers versus tools for stimulating the points.

No pain, no gain. You are looking for sore points. If a point is sore, it needs work. If a point is not sore, you do not need to treat it. Finger pressure will work but most people get a better Healing Response using acupressure tools. They are sharper and allow more pressure to be applied. If a point is very sore, press only as hard as you can tolerate. You must be the judge on this. Light pressure for a longer period will give you the same results. Some people who are larger or less sensitive than others, may need more pressure to activate the healing response. If a point is not sore, study the diagrams to be sure you have located the right spot. Our computer analysis can give you additional points that relate to your condition. If you bruise easily, check the points in Symptoms for bruising.

Repeat, repeat, repeat; treatments have a cumulative effect. Sometimes lasting results are immediate, but most often it takes a while. Each time you activate the Healing Response it brings the system closer to normal. If you do not get a response quickly you can increase the frequency of treatment. Three or four times a day or even once an hour is OK. You cannot overdose. It does not mean that the treatments are not working if the pain comes back. This is normal. Eventually you will reach a point where the pain does not return. Some acupuncturists report treating people 160 times and some think the use of needles is three times as effective as acupressure. You can use acupressure again and again with no additional cost.

As you repeatedly stimulate the points over time the nervous system learns a new response to the problem. Sometimes it is like teaching puppies a new trick. At first you must coach them frequently and then one day they know the new trick. Sometimes this is learned for life, but most often you will just need to remind them of the trick you want them to remember. As you know each puppy is different and the more difficult the trick the more you must work to get the learned response. Long-term results with acupressure depend on repeated use. If you have difficulties getting results, be patient and keep trying. The specific sequence we recommend consists of three different stages.

Phase One :
Get rid of the pain. At least three times a day do acupressure treatments using all the points you have identified (people with the reference books will have about 10 points). Treat for 30 seconds to a minute. You can treat longer (2 to 3 minutes) but not more than 10 minutes. Learn the points so you do not have to refer to the pictures. During this phase use any two of the prevention routines for at least five minutes and whenever you have a free moment for treatment. (See section on Prevention). Do this phase until the pain stays away between treatments.

Phase Two :
Get rid of the sore acupressure points. Treat at least once a day all the points you have. Work any one of your four prevention systems once a day and whenever you have a free moment.

Phase Three :
Keep your system balanced. Use the treatment sequence or a few of the critical points whenever you have a spare moment. Work any one of the four micro-systems at least every other day. For more energy and better health work one of the micro-systems each day or whenever you feel tired or under stress. Stress, a re-injury, overuse, and daily life will sometimes bring the pain back to warn us of imbalances. Move back to the other more intense phases as needed.

Your scale of response relates to the cumulative effect. First, if the points are sore you are on the right spots. Some people report that the points become very sore at first, so go slowly. You may get a lessening of pain or disease with treatment. The pain will go away for short periods, then for longer periods and finally the pain will stay away and the pressure points will lose their soreness.

Prevention :
You can fix a tire by putting more air in it but that is only temporary. The same is true with the imbalances in our body's energy system that underlie all illnesses. Stress in our lives will cause the points to become sore again so work on them regularly. This heals imbalances caused by the stress we normally accumulate. Distressed areas of the body are reflected in the energy system (acupressure points) of the body as painful points.

There are four parts of the body that are miniature representations of the whole body (see diagrams). Stimulating these points can prevent pain and illness before it occurs. Any sore points on these miniaturizations will activate the Healing Response for the stressed area. Use the Happy-Feet tool on all parts of the foot to work out any soreness. The Acu-Ki tool is easiest to use on the hand and some people enjoy the sharper effects of the Happy-Feet on the hand. Your Stressaway Massager is the best tool for rubbing the head, which is also a miniaturization of the body. The Back-Eze is the best tool for stimulating the miniature system of the back. The body point ST36 is your most powerful point for prevention of illnesses. Use it to add years and energy to our lives. Add it to all your treatments and use it daily. Ancient texts site it as the most important point for increasing your life span. People continually tell us how energized they feel using these different systems. If you work with these tools just to get rid of pain or illness, you are missing the most powerful benefit of acupressure -- prevention of illness, better health, and a sense of aliveness.

A few good points :
The goal is to find the fewest points possible that give you effective results. Sorest points usually give the best results. It is critical to find the correct point. This is why we have developed such good diagrams. By looking in the general area and finding the tender spot you will know you are on the point related to your problem. Our books provide at least ten different points so you can test their effectiveness for yourself. More points are available through our computer listings.

A free moment :
You do not have to use all of the points recommended. Using just a few of them when you have a free moment can be effective. Work points while watching TV, in a movie theater, waiting in a line or for an appointment, in class, in meetings, in your car, before going to bed -- anytime.