Famous for its use of needles, acupuncture is one of the five major branches of Chine traditional medicine. Primarily used to relieve physical pain and tension, it can also create a state of muscular relaxation.

Worth noting: there are 365 acupuncture points recognized by Chine traditional medicine

Promoting the flow of Qi

Acupuncture is based on an energetic view of the body, where Qi (vital energy) circulates through meridians. When knots form on these networks, energy ceases to flow or flows insufficiently: the goal of therapy is then to free these energetic pathways.

Needles are inserted just beneath the skin at specific locations: acupuncture points (or Xuewei) that lie along the body's various meridians. The use of needles allows practitioners to dissolve blockages and thus promote the flow of Qi, which improves the patient's health.

There exists a detailed mapping of acupuncture points that correspond to the chakras of Indian medicine—though fewer in number than the Chine xuewei—and meridians. Each maintains a specific relationship with a part of the body and an organic function (which explains, for example, treating a point on the sole of the foot to relieve an abdominal complaint in massage techniques).

Restoring the body's natural defense mechanisms

Rather than serving to cure the patient, acupuncture aims to restore the body's natural processes. It therefore facilitates and accelerates self-healing, or ensures disease prevention by maintaining proper energetic circulation.

Many ailments can be treated or relieved through acupuncture as a complement to other treatments: musculoskeletal problems (arthritis, tendinitis, etc.), respiratory issues (bronchitis, asthma, etc.), gastrointestinal disorders (gallstones, diarrhea, etc.), or nervous conditions (intense stress, depression, etc.).

This method cannot, however, cure diseases that are too advanced, organisms that are severely compromised, or genetic problems. Acupuncture is therefore primarily a tool for prevention and maintaining balance in the patient. To be effective, it must be used before disease has become firmly established.

The acupuncturist's craft

Beyond simply inserting needles at precise points, an acupuncturist must above all possess excellent observational skills. It is based on what he or she deduces from analyzing the patient—state of health, points of energetic imbalance, physical and mental characteristics, breathing—that the acupuncturist will choose how to apply acupuncture.

The sensation from needles

Contrary to what the uninitiated might think, acupuncture rarely causes pain; if discomfort occurs, it is more a momentary tingling sensation than true pain.

The most common effect is muscular relaxation (some people may even doze off), as the small needles, specially designed to penetrate the skin, reactivate energetic circulation by unblocking knots along the meridians.

An acupuncturist uses between 1 and 15 needles on a person, and these needles are typically held in place for 15 to 40 minutes depending on the treatment's purpose. It should be noted, for those who might be apprehensive about having needles inserted along their body, that these punctures produce no bleeding whatsoever, as they are entirely superficial.

Other methods, other tools

Beyond needles, an acupuncturist may employ other techniques to facilitate treatment: moxibustion (which applies heat to the needles or acupuncture points), Ba Guan Zi (cupping—glass vessels glided along a meridian), Pi Fu Zhen (a small hammer topped with tiny needles for tapping the skin's surface).

It is possible to apply acupuncture principles without needles, simply through finger pressure. This resembles tui na (Chine massage), where the idea is equally to release muscular tension and free energetic channels by massaging acupuncture points.