Acupuncture Therapy: The ABCs You Need to Know

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The lifestyle that most people have today can at times be described as unhealthy and with it comes the inevitable health problems. Medical breakthroughs have been steady over the years, but people, especially Westerners, are now opening their minds, as well as bodies, to what can be considered non-Western health or therapy ideas. One popular alternative medicine is acupuncture therapy.

Acupuncture therapy, what exactly is it? The disturbing image that usually pops in our minds when we speak of acupuncture is that of the Chinese poking needles into their skins. Acupuncture, as a healing method, originated in ancient China which is why it is usually categorized under traditional Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture Therapy 101

Acupuncture therapy is often times considered by some people as an ineffective healing method simply because it does not make sense to them. So, to shed light on the perennial question of what is acupuncture to the uninformed, here are a few basics to know about acupuncture:

Acupuncture therapy utilizes fine filiform needles being inserted into specific points in the body, either for general healing purposes or specific for pain relief. These meridians are specific points in the body where life energy (qi) flows can be found.
Acupuncture points, in most cases, are located in the twelve main meridians that correspond to vital body organs like the kidney, liver or lungs. Acupuncture can be effective in treating a range of health problems.
Because acupuncture therapy hails from the Chinese and lacks anatomical or histological basis for its medical claims, it has undeniably received mounting criticism from Western scientists and doctors. Some people still think of it as a simple myth but several studies show that it is truly an effective treatment of some health conditions.
Acupuncture therapy places an emphasis on the free flow of blood and qi. Qi is difficult to translate in the English language but it can be viewed as a form of life energy. When certain body parts experience excessive or deficient levels of qi, sometimes there is stagnation of qi in the body. Acupuncture therapy is used as a technique to balance the qi excess or deficiency by promoting its free flow and either draining it if there is an excess or replenishing it if there is a deficiency.

Traditional Chinese medicine looks at health as a symbiosis of yin and yang in the body. Yin and yang, which are contrasting forces that work together, can be compared to dark and light, male and female, or high and low. Acupuncture therapy in the Western world then becomes a blending of the East and the West, yin and yang, thus making it an intriguing healing art. At the start of its popularity in the West, some people considered it as a mere myth but, through the years, it has been scientifically researched. In fact, acupuncture therapy has been efficient in the treatment of several health conditions in the Western world.