How does Acupuncture work?

When stress or disease occurs internally, it also manifests itself externally in skin and muscle tissue. As a result, specific body points or regions can become painful, tense, sensitive, puffy or indented. Acupuncture is a system of therapy which uses these points not only for diagnosis, but also for treatment. Acupuncture affects the body's internal condition by manipulating the peripheral or external tissues.

There are several modern theories about this phenomena, including:

1) Electrical Conduction: It has been noted that acupuncture points have different electrical potentials than other areas of the body. It is not known exactly why these different electrical potentials exist but research suggests that acupuncture, on one level, works by affecting electrical conduction in the body.

2) Autonomic Nervous System: The autonomic nervous system is responsible for coordinating and conducting all of the body's involuntary functions. Acupuncture invokes the conserving, healing function of the autonomic nervous system.

3) Trigger Point Theory: Through clinical research, western physicians have discovered specific points of tension in the body that, when released, are particularly effective in the alleviation of muscular-skeletal pain. The locations of these points correlate with the acupuncture points of oriental medicine.

4) Biochemical Defense Mechanism: The acupuncture needle creates an injury at the cellular level. The body's response is to release chemicals vital to cellular repair. This helps to reduce local inflammation and relieve pain.

5) Endorphins: Acupuncture stimulates the body to produce pain-relieving chemicals called "endorphins". Traditionally, acupuncture is a medicine that focuses on an energetic model of the body rather than the biochemical model of western medicine. Ancient oriental physicians recognized that vital energy, called Ki in Japanese or Qi in Chinese, circulates along channels or meridians throughout the body and links all of the body's parts and functions. Ki maintains and nurtures our physical body as well as our mind. It keeps the blood circulating, warms the body and fights disease. When a person is healthy, Ki flows smoothly through the channels but if, for some reason, the flow is blocked, weak, or excessive, then symptoms and/or illness occurs.

In treatment, the aim of the therapist is to correct the flow of Ki by inserting needles or applying pressure to specific points along the channels. In so doing, a change in part or function of the body is achieved. Changes in Ki precede physical change, so acupuncture can act as a preventive medicine, correcting energy flow before a serious illness occurs. If physical change has occurred, it too can be affected by adjusting the flow of Ki.