Blockage or Stagnation of Qi
If Qi is very depleted, or if its How is blocked, progress is likely to be slow or even non-existent.
In conditions of great depletion the patient's constitution must be 'built up - traditionally with diet and herbal remedies - so that acupuncture can have an effect.
In old age, treatment may take longer than is normal for younger people simply because the older body naturally has less vitality.
If a patient is unwilling to make changes to diet or lifestyle that the acupuncturist recommends, this may also reduce the treatment's effectiveness.
Similarly, if a patient has been receiving medication from an orthodox practitioner, especially on a long-term basis, acupuncture treatment is likely to be difficult and take some time to be effective.
If the blockage or stagnation of Qi is very great, as it would be in a case where gross organic damage has occurred, as for instance in certain cancers, surgery may be necessary.
In other cases, such as terminal cancers, where the condition itself does not respond to any therapy, it is nevertheless often possible to alleviate the patient's suffering to some extent through acupuncture.
Although the patient's vitality may be low and the potential for self-healing therefore greatly reduced, acupuncture's ability to maximize whatever potential there is can only be helpful.
The quality of his or her life can be much improved and helping someone to die with dignity is as important as helping someone to live. A similar principle is important in the use of acupuncture to treat serious degenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.
In such cases the patient usually comes to an acupuncturist when the disease is at a relatively late stage, and often after several years of medication.
These circumstances certainly make treatment very difficult, but some benefit may be gained nevertheless, usually through enabling the medication to be reduced or in slowing the disease process.
Comparable results can sometimes be achieved with diseases such as epilepsy although the extent of improvement will inevitably vary.
