VST Acupuncture History
Previous scientific researches about acupuncture has credited acupuncture’s healing effects to the release of neurotransmitters or inhibition of pain’s ascending mechanism in the body. However, these concepts only explain the mechanisms of pain relief. The symptoms of pain that we notice are merely the tip of the iceberg. If one senses pain, then that means that there is a greater underlying imbalance causing the pain.
Dr. Lee has devoted his early career into developing a new method of acupuncture, now known as VST (Vertex Synchronizing Technique), that targets the root cause of musculoskeletal pain biomechanically.
The underlying concept of VST acupuncture is “tensegrity” – tension + integrity.
picture taken from A tensegrity model refers to structures that maintain its integrity with a synergy between balanced tension components and compression components like circus tents, suspension bridges, and the human body. In our body, our skeletal system works as compression components and elastic connective tissues such as muscles, fascia, ligaments, and tendon work as tension components. Where the compression components and tension components meet are called the vertices. Vertices work as transition points that balance compression and tension in our body. The four major vertices of our body are on both of our hip and shoulder joints, and they connect our trunk with the extremities of our body.
In our cars, the four wheels act as the four major vertices. All four wheels need to balance and maintain tensegrity to function properly. However, with great use, the tires wear down, often unevenly, disrupting the car’s performance. The vertices in our bodies are similar to car tires. Despite our body’s genius design, our daily lives counteract our body’s balance. Being righthanded or lefthanded, driving with our right leg, and askew sleep position are some examples of what throw off our balance or tensegrity. As our vertices misalign and lose tensegrity with our daily activities, the misalignment of the vertices become the source of musculoskeletal pain as other muscle groups try to compensate for the misalignment. Joint pain, restriction of range of motion, poor performance, and injuries are some of the symptoms that show up due to the lack of biomechanical and circulatory integrity. By synchronizing the vertices with VST to restore tensegrity, the source of pain can be resolved and treated, producing immediate results and preventing recurrence.
To examine a body’s tensegrity, Dr. Lee proposed “3 Dimensional Vertex Analysis”. The “3 Dimensional Vertex Analysis” examines the body’s tensegrity in three different planes for the four major vertices previously mentioned to pinpoint the root cause of each individual’s symptoms. Once we discover at which vertices the problem is located, we can resolve the fundamental causes of your symptoms with VST acupuncture. For example, when someone with shoulder pain is tested with 3 Dimensional Vertex Analysis, the root cause of the shoulder pain may be traced to a vertex at the hip joint. The reason would be that one side of the hip joint may have less range of motion (ROM) than the other. Therefore, the shoulder will accumulate more fatigue because the shoulder needs to compensate for the hip joint with less ROM in order to maintain the balance of the body. Our body is designed to maintain balance, and when it is forced to balance the imbalance, symptoms begin to arise.