Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM is an amalgamation of Chinese medical modalities, of which acupuncture is a part of.  TCM because of its effectiveness in healing a huge number of ailments is used by about a quarter of the world’s population most of them in Asia.  It is a healthcare system thousands of years old.  Some of TCM’s treatments such as acupuncture can be traced back even to the Stone Age.

Acupuncture is about the puncturing of very thin needles into specific areas of the body in order to generate a reaction that will treat an ailment or relieve pain and/or stress.  TCM believes that diseases are due to the outside obstructions that imbalance the body’s functions and processes.  To correct these, the application of needles into certain sites on the body is done to help regain the body’s normal balance and harmony.

When treated with acupuncture, the acupuncturist queries the patient first to know about the latter’s condition.  Then, the patient is physically examined by the acupuncturist and based on his/her observation of the patient’s physical status and on the interview of the patient regarding what the patient is feeling, a diagnosis can be made. Typically, during treatment, the patient lies down and may be asked to remove /his/her clothing if the acupuncture points are located on the upper body or below the torso.

The common myth about acupuncture is that it is a painful treatment since it deals with one or several needles being inserted in the body, which is quite ironic because acupuncture is used as an analgesic for almost every type of pain; even for some major surgeries.  Usually, there might be a slight fleeting sensation felt when the needles are inserted into the skin.  However, that uneasiness will instantly fade as the effect of the acupuncture treatment starts to set in and instead of an unpleasant sensation, what is felt then is a relaxed and pleasant feeling that usually makes the patient fall asleep during the whole course of the treatment.

With regards to the needles, the needles that acupuncture uses are not the hollow type needles used for injection or the drawing of blood, they are non-hollow, very thin, stainless steel, single use, disposable and new needles that are used to prevent cross infection.  Typically, herbs are used in conjunction with acupuncture.  There are types of acupuncture techniques that may be used to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment.  Among the common ones used are moxibustion, electro acupuncture or ear acupuncture.  There are no side effects with acupuncture, which is good news for those who really care about the health of their bodies.  Acupuncture is one of the most popular forms of alternative treatment in the world because of its effectiveness especially in treating pain and because it is a safe and natural type of therapy.