I'd be interested to know whether acupuncture has helped cure/or relieve symptoms of skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. Anyone have any stories to share?
My student had a skin condition that presented on his arms and backs of his hands. It stumped the regular doctors and specialists because they were looking only at alleviating the symptoms, not discovering the cause. One of the benefits of acupuncture (practiced traditionally) is that there is an extensive intake process that a new patient undergoes that includes not only medical histories but tongue reading, pulse taking (18 of them), color and odor analysis, range-of-motion measurements etc.
Only after all of these parameters are checked is the first needle brought out.
Well, my student asked me to do a treatment, so we went through the process, I saw that it wasn't diet or any pre-existing condition and began treatment. Over the course of three treatments per week for three weeks the skin condition was terminated and has not as of this date returned.
So yes, acupuncture can work on skin conditions - in my student's case it was treatment for "wind", "heat" and "dampness". These are TCM names for both environmental and internal conditions; the goal of acupuncture is to remove these "toxins" by stimulating the body's natural energy flow.
Depending upon the practitioner you see, however, your results may vary. Some acupuncturists, known as "medical acupuncturists", are licensed MDs who have taken a bare-minimum course in acupuncture - essentially learning the dozen or so most common points to stimulate through courses that are 1/10th the duration of an OMDs (Doctor of Oriental Medicine). They do not study diagnostic methods or any of the remaining 365 points in the body, so if you present with anything out of the ordinary they will likely not be successful in their treatment.