The 1st edition of Congress The Journey of the Needle was held in Maastricht the Netherlands 8-9 Oktober 2016. TJotN objective is to focus on the use of acupuncture needles in Healthcare.

Maastricht Southern Belle 6

Savour life

In restaurant Rantrée – also on the side of town – wine from Limburg is standard fare. ”Not everyone seems to be aware of this yet, but our province offers wonderful, largerly organically-produced local wines,” explains host and sommelier Jennifer as she pours me a glass of Clos d’Opleeuw Cuvée Prestige. And in addition to this lovely Chardonnay, I’m served a delicious veal cheek croquette. Perfect. ”We like to savour and enjoy life, and you can really sense that,” says Anja while she adjusts her scarf – because dressing well is a part of savouring life, too. So it doesn’t come as a surprise to find boutiques selling luxury fashion labels lined up in the famous historic Stokstraat area. And sure enough, even that line of business now has its eye on Wyck. Hermès, merchant of Parisian leather goods, recently opened a new store across the river. But not everything is expensive in Wyck. In fact, most isn’t. New, trendy, affordable hotels are opening all over the place, such as the low-budget yet sophisticated Kaboom Hotel; clad in stylish white, outfitted with luxirious Auping beds, and staffed with gentlefolk. The ‘new’ part of the city also harbours galleries and theatres in old factory buildings. The drama group Toneelgroep Maastricht, for instance, occupies a place called the Bordenhal in the Céramique area. While former churches and convents that were desecrated during the reign of Napoleon have also been repurposed all over town. The opulent Kruisherenhotel – in the ‘old’ Maastricht – is a perfect example of this. Located in a 15th-century convent, it calls itself ‘a design hotel between heaven and earth’. After enjoying my breakfast under its high arches, I go to the bathroom and find myself hesitating; the glass walls of the stall are open towards the old convent hallways. What’s more, there’s a bible verse from Genesis 3:7 written on the glass: ‘And they realised they were naked.’ Fortunately, there’s also a small addendum by hotel staff: ‘But don’t worry, no one can see you.’ I have no reason to worry, as I’m still enchanted from having experienced Maastricht in all its multifaceted glory.

Culinary delights

Next stop: somewhere to sate the appetite. Hans van Wolde, award-winning chef at restaurant Beluga Loves You is the typical Wyck guy (even though he hails from Rotterdam). At once rugged and refined, he prefers eating with his hands and is happy to challenge convention (two Michelin stars doesn’t mean his staff can’t wear sneakers), yet gets emotional over dessert. His place among the best in town, which says a lot in Maastricht, where eating and drinking are almost synonymous to breathing. As far as Van Wolde is concerned ”cooking is about eating, drinking and enjoying food in each other’s company. Talking about it too much is a waste of time.” And to prove his point, he reaches for a razor-sharp knife with which to cut the carefully crafted tartlet in front of us and on which the words ‘Hit me’ are spelled out in confectioner’s sugars. He takes a bite of the divine sweet before giving me a handshake and hurrying back into the kitchen. Never before, have I been so aware of my taste buds. That’s because in Wyck, the scents just lure you in. Aromas of freshly-baked bread, pungent cheese (lovingly called ‘stinky Limburg’), fresh fruit tarts, spicy roasts; it’s almost like they’re doing it on purpose. At a restaurant like Harry’s, it’s jam-packed at 3 p.m., and at the Bread & Delicious bakery people are queueing.

It’s not only in hip and happening Wyck that restaurants, delicacy stores and cafés seduce your senses. In ‘old’ Maastricht within the Roman fort, it’s a true culinary feast, too. Bars and terraces, for instance, can be found all around the immensely popular Onze Lieve Vrouweplein (Square Of Our Lady), and thanks to patio heaters, you can take a seat all year long and enjoy Limburg´s famous local delicacy: devilishly delicious fruit tarts known as vlaaien. The basiliek van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw (Basilica Of Our Lady) looms over the square, and its most famous devotion – Our Lady Star of the Sea, a wooden statue appointed with a red-and-golden cape – is highly cherished among pilgrims. The fact that a castle once stood in this very spot can be verified a few steps further down the square, in the basement of nearby Hotel Derlon, where an underground museum is devoted to the subject.

Original blog from John Stan, Eastern currents, Canada www.easterncurrents.ca

Common knowledge tells us that “you get what you pay for”. In China, while labor is cheap, it is the other aspects of manufacturing that are variable. Those aspects include the type of metal used to make the needle, sharpening methods, the type of Sterile Room the needles are assembled and packaged in, and the quality control standards in place at each level of manufacturing.

Materials:

Stainless steel comes in a variety of grades and it is one of the key cost factors. Different grades of surgical steel have different properties, which may affect the quality of your treatment.

Lubricants may or may not be used. Types and qualities vary and will affect the cost of the needle.

Manufacturing Facilities:

Manufacturing facilities vary greatly. Very low-end needles are outsourced to individuals for sharpening, or to facilities with little or no quality control, and then brought back to the main factory to be packaged and sterilized. Mid-range facilities use better quality control, and a 100K sterile facility for finishing the needle and packaging. A 100K sterile room allows for 100,000 airborne particles per cubic meter. Better yet, some facilities are manufactured in a 10K sterile room.

Read more

In with the new

These days, if you take a walk trough Wyck, you’ll hear more than just Maastricht dialect. French, German, English, Spanish, Chinese – students and tourists from all corners of the world have descended on the city by the river. The historical storefronts with their shiny golden plaques depicting what businesses used to be here (stables, a millwright, a knife, sharpener, nuns specialising in embroidery) have been taken over by pop-ups and start-ups. Which is exactly what the current mayor Annemarie Penn – te Strakke wants to see in Wyck, or any other neighbourhoods on the rise (like Céramique) for that matter. “Friction and revitalisation are important . You need ample space for young designers and creatives. Fashion events, dance days, culinary breeding grounds – this is where the future of the city lies. And it’s perfectly okay if there’s a bit of rough edge,” she explains.

Salon Hair Boutique (“students haircuts 9.99 euro, reads the sign in the window”) illustrates Penn – te Strake’s point. I see neo-punk hairdos in purple and yellow come to life, and someone says, “If you want a neat middle parting or a permanent wave, you need to go Across “.

I walk into the Sint Martinuskerk next door, a neo-Gothic building by Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers, who is probably most noted for the designing the Central Station and Rijksmuseum buildings in Amsterdam. the church has seen its share of changes and alterations since its contstruction in the 19th Century. Some due to evolving tastes (Cuypers’ decorative mouldings are currently hidden under a layer of grey paint), others due to war destruction (when the bridges over the Meuse were blown up during World war II, some of the stained – glass windows fell out). “A blessing in disguise ,” shrugs Johan, who comes in daily to, as he says, “do a round of praying,” and to clean the place up while he’s at it. “Because aren’t the new stained-glass windows magnificent?” They certainly are; in al their beautifully and brightly-coloured, contemporary glory. Especially the ones from 1966, which depict news features from those days. They form a slice of time in full colour; a movie still, captured in lead.

 

Source: Holland Herald, March 2016
Picture:  St. Martinuskerk by Philippus van Gulpen

Being sensitive to the effect of the needle

Categories: All about needles
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A publication in the BMJ shows that male and female reactions to acupuncture at the well-known acupuncture point GB 34 might differ.
These findings underline the premises from Chinese Medicine that each individual has to be needled in a individualised manner. This requires the appropriate skills of the practitioner and the choice of the right needle.
The blog below illustrates this sensitivity to the needle very obviously.
Blog
from John Stan, Eastern currents, Canada.

As a practitioner, you need to assess your style of needling and challenge yourself to adapt your style to each patient that walks in your door.
Each type of needle has certain features that you can match to the patient and their situation. In many schools, students will use only one or two styles of needles, but are not taught that certain needles are more beneficial for some patients.
Read complete blog

Picture: Acupuncture in Medicine

More than one kind of acupuncture.

Merely by accident I came across two acupuncture books this week. One is the revised and expanded second edition of Medical Acupuncture written by Jacqueline Filshie & Adrian White with co-author Mike Cummings. Medical acupuncture is the branche in acupuncture that takes distance  from the traditional theories and seek explanations from within western medical perspectives. It is promised to be a science-based compendium that provides the trained practitioner with all the latest research on the effectiveness of WMA and its associated mechanisms, techniques, clinical practice and evidence. Medical Acupuncture demonstrates a variety of needling techniques and clinical applications within the context of WMA and its evolution from traditional Chinese acupuncture using current knowledge of anatomy, physiology and pathology alongside the principles of evidence-based medicine.

The other book that caught my eye was intuitive acupuncture by John Hamwee. Herein the role of intuition is  identified in acupuncture training as one of the keys to effective practice. John Hamwee  explores its paramount importance in diagnosis and treatment, showing how development of the intuitive sense, and its appropriate use in the treatment room, is vital to building the most effective individual practice.

The search for the appropriate adjective or what is the true acupuncture?

These are just a grip out of the many adjectives acupuncture might have. Every acupuncturist will have his or her preference and arguments for the  chosen approach or might even combine several in practice. Is one more ‘true’ than the other. And can science give us the answer in this issue? Or is it a matter of taste and are both valid.? In other words: what is the right adjective when it comes to acupuncture. During The Journey of the Needle we will explore several variables and zoom in on these aspects.

Culture abounds

Although quarrels between the two banks of the Meuse are a thing of the past, some difference remain. The old centre is venerable and majestic, while the new district brims with growth and innovation. When a new university took up residence there in a former convent in 1974, student apartments became a hot commodity. And with any influx of students comes student life. All of a sudden, bars, clubs and small theatres popped up out of nowhere and cultural life bloomed. The essential factor in all of this was probably the abundance of available venue space. Maastricht once boasted an internationally-celebrated porcelain industry, which flourished during the 19th Century thanks to well-known companies such as Regout, Mosa and Sphinx. But business began to fizzle out and eventually factory after factory closed, leaving giant industrial spaces just sitting there, vacant and waiting for all these fresh young faces to move right on in, like hermit crabs.

Fashion designer Lena Berens is one of the many young people from various walks of life who have found their way to the city. To her, it doesn’t matter on which side of the Meuse things happen, as she adores the entire city. Origanally from Trier in Germany, Berens moved here to study fashion design at the academy of Fine Arts and Design Maastricht, considered one of the best of the country. Nowadays, you’ll find her sitting at her cutting table in her studio store on Witmakersstraat- in the old side of the town – producing her collection all by herself. Her beau, Milan palma, has his own atelier round the corner, where he makes leather bags, also by hand. “Fortunately, craftmanship is back in style,” she says.

From: Holland Herald, March 2016
Picture: Academy of Art and Achitecture

Roman Heritage

It may not be a particularly large city, but Maastricht certainly is ancient. The oldest archaeological finds ever located in the Netherlands come from this area, and prove that humans lived here during the Palaeolithic period, some 250,000 years ago. Much later the Romans established the current city and named it Mosae Trajectum, meaning ‘crossing at the Meuse’. In fact, one the oldest bridges in the country, the Sint Servaasburg (Saint Servatius Bridge), crosses the Meuse river here. It was built in the 13th Century to facilitate expansion beyond the walls of the original stronghold. Ten years ago, the Hoge Brug (High Bridge) was added, providing visitors with the most amazing view of the city, and a perfect selfie location.

Crossing a divide, however, takes more than just building a bridge. The original town and the newer districts, such as Wyck (pronounced ‘week’) on the other side of the river, remained separate entities. There were rumours ot mutual discord and hostility; people simply coudn’t stand each other. The new arrivals were deemed unwanted and boorish intruders; a sentiment that lingered on throughout the years. Anja tells me that when a new cemetry opened in Wyck in the 19th Century, a Maastricht lady was overheard saying that she ”wouldn’t even be found dead on The Other Side”.

From: Holland Herald, March 2016

Photograph by Karim : www.werkaandemuur.nl

Needles with silicone? Really?

I would like to use the occasion to shortly (the subject is vast) address what is perhaps one of the most overlooked elements in acupuncture (at least in the needling aspect of acupuncture). When it comes to the variety of acupuncture needles available in the market, there is a generally ignored detail concerning the silicone coating added to the needles. By far the majority of acupuncture needles sold in Europe comes with a silicone coated tip. This coating is meant to ensure a smooth and painless penetration into the skin. The silicon coating is antiallergic and completely invisible to the human eye. Its use is furthermore common practice in the (western) medical practice for injection needles and cannulae. Still, by dealing with acupuncturists on daily basis I have come to the realization there is a large group of practitioners who simply ignores this detail about the needles they work with.

Read more: Don’t ask don’t tell

Blog from Dirkjan Heijne Docsave GmbH 

Situated in the Province of Limburg, between Germany and Belgium, the city of Maastricht perches on the southern tip of the Netherlands. Travelling here feels like a romantic holiday, but the historic city is also bustling with creativity and energy.

Join us to discover both the old and the new.

Anja-who was born and bred in Maastricht( or Mehstraych)- is to be my guide, but only one minute into our appointment and I’m already completely lost. You see, for out-of-towners like me, the Maastricht dialect is quite incomprehensible. “This beautiful spot on the Meuse river has a character of its own”. Anja stipulates in her juicy tongue. Truer words were never spoken.
Maastricht cannot be compared to any other city in the Netherlands. A long, long time ago, dashes of Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands were put into the blender, and the fabulous cocktail of Maastricht came out. With a mind of its own and the appetite of a gourmand, it’s a city and a country rolled into one. There’s an atmosphere of cosy conviviality, and yet it’s such a chique place. The people who live here are proud, but also down to earth. For instance, although Anja’s given name is Anastasia, the officials at city hall thought that so outrageous, that they decided to simply register her as ‘Anja’, she tells us, before leading us off to explore the city with so many faces.

Uit: Holland Herald, March 2016