Does Acupuncture Work?

For 3000 years Chinese medicine has been the primary care medicine of a third of the worlds population. Thousands of years of research and development, observation of patterns of diseases, testing of medicinals and therapies is not something to take lightly. Like all medicine there are times when protocols that have succeeded for thousands of patients will fail for one. We are each unique, but Chinese medicine has the superior edge to have recognized the importance and to have incorporated individuals body types and temperaments in to diagnosis and treatment.

Is Acupuncture a Placebo?

All medicine incorporates a psychological factor, even aspirin. Like western medicine, Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture have been extensively researched in modern scientific forums and found to have therapeutic affect. Interestingly enough, young children and animals respond to acupuncture better than adults do. This is believed by many scientists to be caused by the fact that apprehensions and fears of adults get in the way of therapeutic results. The very opposite of a placebo affect.

Does Acupuncture Hurt?

Acupuncture makes use of needles of varying length and thickness most of which are thinner than the human hair. Most acupuncture points and therapies do not cause pain. There is often a sensation called "de qi" the arrival of Qi that can be sensed after insertion of the needle. This sensation is often felt as a tingling like electric, a fullness or a numbness. The sensation is often considered pleasant by patients, but if to strong is easily reduced by the practitioner with an adjustment of the needle. It is this active feeling upon the needle insertion that is the indication of the success of the treatment. Often needles are placed at a distance from the location of pain or the health concern and the sensation can be felt reaching those areas as the practitioner manipulates them. It is in this way that the traditional paths of the meridians were discovered and charted.