Chinese acupuncture and Chinese medicine go hand in hand, but while the practice likely originated in China, this method of healing is also practiced in Japanese, Tibetan and Korean traditions. Once looked upon as suspect, acupuncture has gained wide acceptance by the Western medical community for its ability to help treat and manage chronic pain, migraine headaches and a variety of neurological conditions.
Today, acupuncture is covered by many health insurance plans thanks to the National Institutes of Health 1997 Consensus Development Program which determined that there was sufficient evidence of acupuncture's value to broaden its use to include conventional medical treatment.
Basis of Acupuncture
When you think of acupuncture, you might picture someone lying on a table with hundreds of tiny needles sticking out of their skin. This image isn't far from the truth, but the concepts on which acupuncture is based point to a beautiful symmetry that is rooted in the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang.
The Chinese believe that all living beings possess Qi or what's more commonly referred to in the West, as life force energy, and that Qi flows along 12 primary meridian lines or channels in the body, where each meridian corresponds to a different organ system. When the flow of Qi is restricted, an imbalance is created in the body-that imbalance is thought to cause disease, which, by the Chinese definition is more in line with what we think of in the West as symptoms (headaches, allergies, insomnia, etc.).
Purpose of Acupuncture
The purpose of acupuncture is to balance the flow of Qi, which represents the yang in yin-yang, and its substantive other half, called Blood, which represents the yin (this is not literally your blood, but conceptually similar). Acupuncture achieves this by applying pressure in a variety of ways-not just needle stimulation-along the meridians to bring Qi or Blood to an area that's lacking, to drain them from areas that have an excess or clear them if they're found to be stagnant.
Acupuncture may use one of more of the following methods to bring about the desired result:
Meridians
Acupuncture operates on the idea that there are 12 primary meridians or channels in the body believed to assist in the flow of Qi and Blood. Acupuncture focuses on stimulating acupoints on these meridians along with what are known as free points. Free points are areas of the body that aren't located in one particular meridian, but thought to be frequent areas of stagnation for Blood.
These 12 primary meridians are believed to run vertically, bi-laterally and symmetrically on the whole of the body with each meridian corresponding to an organ system. Like Blood, this is not a literal relationship, so you'll see the meridians capitalized when used by name (Kidney, Heart, Small Intestine, Bladder, Large Intestine, Lung, Liver, Stomach, Gallbladder, Governing Vessel and Conception).The meridians are so named for the way Chinese medicine classifies the activities and relationships in the body.
How they're situated in the body means there are six yin meridians and six yang meridians and how they run, in turn, means there are three yin and three yang meridians on each arm and leg. Acupuncture needles are inserted at various acupoints along the meridians to stimulate Qi and Blood.
Acupoints
There are thousands of acupoints on the body and they're all located on meridians (about 300 or so are located on the primary meridians). These acupoints may be stimulated by a several forms of pressure, like acupuncture needles, acupressure, massage or cupping. Which meridians receive pressure and how much pressure they receive depends on the needs of the individual.
Regardless of the method applied, acupuncture helps the body release endorphins (pain relievers) and neurotransmitters that contribute to healing the nervous system, stimulating circulation and managing the body's natural electrical currents.
What Acupuncture is Good For
Acupuncture commonly treats chronic pain or helps people quit smoking. The NIH's 1997 Consensus Statement lists post-operative pain and relief from nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy as conditions where acupuncture shows promise. Other conditions the NIH believed to benefit from incorporating acupuncture into traditional treatment plans included asthma, carpal tunnel, fibromyalgia, menstrual cramps, osteoarthritis and tennis elbow. If you're interested in what acupuncture may be able to do for you, consult your physician.
 | Ear acupuncture, as its name implies, is a form of acupuncture performed solely on specific parts of the ear as a way to treat ailments of the whole body. |
 | Acupuncture body points are chosen along meridians to open up blocked life energy forces (chi) throughout the body, stimulating healing and the balance of energy in the body. |
Although acupuncture, the process of inserting thin needles into the skin in order to relieve certain ailments, developed in China more than 2,000 years ago, it certainly has relevance today, considering that it has been known to treat many different illnesses that modern medicine has been unsuccessful at treating. |
Acupuncture is a Chinese medical practice in which specific body areas are pierced with fine needles for therapeutic purposes or to relieve pain. It is an imported practice that goes against the American way of practicing medicine which includes pharmaceuticals and surgery. |
Acpuncture cupping therapy is a form of acupuncture used to treat abdominal problems, respiratory illness and pain. |
