Thai acupressure

What is Thai acupressure?

Thai acupressure is a method of using knowledge, science, and art to treat disease using the fingers. It comes from the royal massage of Professor Narongsak Boonrattanahiran, which was passed down from generation to generation at the Ayurvedic College School, which was inherited from Doctor Intawatha, a royal page of His Majesty King Rama V. Doctor Intawatha passed all of his massage knowledge on to his son, Doctor Chit Dechaphan, who later passed it on to many disciples, among whom Professor Narongsak was a disciple.

Thai acupressure is a procedure that helps adjust the flow of the pulse. The pulse means “blood and wind” (not referring to blood vessels in modern medicine). When the pulse is not flowing well, it means that the body has a problem with the flow or the pulse.

Thai acupressure is to make the pulse flow smoothly. In modern medicine, it is comparable to restoring the function of the blood vessel, muscle, nervous system and other systems so that they can return to full function through the process of pressing points in the positions related to the blood vessel, muscle, nervous system and other systems.

Symptoms in various systems that use Thai acupressure

  • Muscle and joint pain
  • Allergies
  • Insomnia
  • High blood pressure
  • Migraine headaches
  • Paralysis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Frozen shoulder
  • Menstrual cramps

Thai acupressure in Thai traditional medical theory

In the theory of Thai traditional medicine, the human body is made up of elements such as earth, water, wind, and fire, which are the components of all things, including humans.

But the factors that cause the elements to change are called the three elements: bile, vata, and phlegm. These three are the causes of the elements of earth, water, wind, and fire to change. Jati, liana, and bhaina are all causes that arise from the three elements that change according to the various factors.

Diagnostic approaches

In terms of diagnosis, we need to understand the elements and nature of the body. According to Thai traditional medicine, there are two types of classification:

  1. The elements that form the body or make up the body are 42 elements: Chatukal Tejo, Chakal Vayo, Twetsa Aapo, Visati Pathavi.
  2. The elements that cause change, arising (jāt), existing (jalanā), and ceasing (jalanā) are the three elements: Vata, Pitta, and Semhu.

“The 42 elements are like a diagram of the body, letting us know the position, function and duties of all the elements in the body.”

“The three elements are like the driving force that changes the elements in the body according to the cycle of elements, that is, they cause elements to arise, maintain elements to exist, and cause elements to cease, which is the cause of the arising of various diseases. The three elements are Vata, Pitta, and Phlegm.”

In Thai acupressure, when a patient has pain in the muscles, called inflammation of the muscles, the doctor must consider what kind of inflammation it is, where it occurs, what causes it, and how to treat it in order to treat the patient correctly.

Vata

Samathana Vata is the origin of diseases caused by wind. It is divided into three types:

  • Heart valve (the air in the heart that keeps the heart functioning properly)
    According to the inscription of Wat Pho, “The patient has symptoms of dizziness, does not talk much, is absent-minded, likes to be alone, is easily irritated, gets angry easily, has a loss of appetite, sometimes laughs, sometimes cries, and when old, faints and suffers from mental illness.”
  • Sumanavat (wind in the veins that causes pain)
    According to the inscription of Wat Pho, it is said that “It is caused by a pile of wind and paralysis, and usually occurs during the Tridosha. The patient will lose all five senses: hearing, sight, smell, taste, and touch.”
  • Satthakavat (wind that causes stabbing sensations in various parts of the body)
    From the inscription of Wat Pho, it is said that “Patients have chest pains. They will have stabbing pains all over their bodies, like being cut with a knife or a sharp iron. Their hearts will tremble. When it subsides, they will feel hungry, weak, have headaches, blurred vision, be unable to eat, and have insomnia. If they are not cured, they will become Tosanthakhat and Trisanthakhat, which are Atisayok (cutting disease).”

Falling Theory

A theory that talks about how people are affected by various events that have occurred since conception until the present. These impacts must include accidents that seem ordinary from a medical perspective, such as falls, bumps, and even if they do not require surgery or hospitalization, these events all affect the human body.

When considering the serious illness, it may actually be caused by a simple accident that was neglected and ignored for a long time.

The cause of illness due to being hit, bruised, is consistent with the ancient scriptures that mention Opakkamikapath. If we look at it, it is internal inflammation that is left to become chronic. In Thai traditional medicine, this kind of inflammation is seen as stagnant air inflammation and in addition, there may be residual blood that is dry and stuck to the bones, called Asanthakhat/Tosanthakhat. Allowing the disease to progress like this will have a negative effect on all systems and structures in the body. The progression of the disease or symptoms caused by being hit, bruised, and stagnant, the end result may be internal bleeding or eventually developing into cancer.

Thai acupressure in modern medical theory

The body’s nervous system is divided into two systems based on location, function and structure: CNS and PNS.

  1. The central nervous system (CNS) is the nervous system that acts as a center or controls the functioning of other systems in the body, such as controlling the movement of striated muscles and bones so that they can adapt to the environment.
  2. The peripheral nervous system (PNS) consists of:
    1. 12 pairs of cranial nerves to receive sensory signals and give commands to control the motor units to respond to stimuli.
    2. Spinal nerves are 31 pairs of nerves that branch off from the spinal cord and function as sensory nerves and to send signals to effectors such as muscles and glands.

Efferent system

It consists of two systems that carry nerve impulses from the central nervous system to the effectors:

  1. Somatic Nervous System (SNS)
    It is responsible for controlling muscle contractions as a system under the control of the mind, including the craniospinal nerves, which consist of 12 pairs of cranial nerves and 31 pairs of spinal nerves, such as controlling the functioning of striated muscles. Sensory neurons receive nerve impulses from sensory receptors via the spinal cord or cranial nerves into the spinal cord or brain to interpret and command. The nerve impulses are then sent through the spinal cord or cranial nerves to the operating unit, which is the striated muscle, such as the Jerk reflex.
  2. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
    Controls the contraction of smooth muscles and the function of glands that are not voluntary. These responses are caused by the work of the nervous system that is not voluntary or the autonomic nervous system, which consists of two subsystems: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. These two systems work in opposition to each other.

Why can Thai acupressure treat multiple systems?

The function of the autonomic nervous system consists of sensory receptors, which may be located in internal organs or skin. The sensory neurons receive nerve impulses through the dorsal root of the spinal nerves into the spinal cord, which synapse with motor neurons at the autonomic ganglion. The neurons that leave the spinal cord and go to the autonomic ganglion are called presynaptic neurons, and the motor neurons that leave the autonomic ganglion are called postsynaptic neurons, which carry nerve impulses to the smooth muscles of internal organs, cardiac muscles, and glands.”

Head

Shoulders, neck, shoulders

Behind

Wrapped legs

Abdomen