In acupuncture, needles are used in order to regulate and balance the energy in the body.

Acupuncture originated in China, more than two thousand years ago. It became a very known and accepted method all over the Western world. It is often used for pain reduction and alleviation of a whole array of symptoms. Very thin needles are inserted at very carefully chosen points.

The insertion and removal of the needles is painless. During the treatment people report of experiencing relaxation, very comfortable feeling, sometimes patients feel warmth at the insertion points. Symptoms can subside immediately, or over a period of treatment time.

Vital energy, Chi (or Qi) streams around the body, along meridians, long lines along the body. This vital energy, the Chi, is in balance when a person is completely healthy. Illness and symptoms appear when the Chi is out of balance, blocked and static.

Another important concept is the Yin/Yang concept. Yin and Yang have to be in balance, too. Yin and Yang are the opposites that exist in all aspects. Yin is considered the female, negative, soft, cool, passive aspect, while Yang is the male, aggressive, positive, warm aspect. When Yin and Yang are out of balance, symptoms and illness occur.

Acupuncture treats emotional problems as well as physical problems, because in Chinese medicine all problems, physical and emotional, stem from the same reasons. Acupuncture can treat both using the same methods - balancing the positive and negative (Yin and Yang) and keeping the Chi (or Qi) balanced and flowing as it should. That is also a reason why the acupuncturist, while diagnosing, will also study the patient's life style, not only the symptoms.

In China, in all modern hospitals, you will find Chinese medicine practitioners working alongside Western doctors. Chinese medicine and Western medicine work hand in hand here, for the advantage of the patient. Great successes have been documented using Chinese medicine.

Western medicine has been trying to research and explain why Chinese medicine is so effective in some cases. Western medicine has stipulated that there are some nerve centers in the human body that get stimulated by the needles. This results in the creation of endorphins, which cause a feeling of well being, and eliminate pain. There is also a theory that acupuncture affects brain chemistry, but how exactly this happens is not completely understood and explained.

In the Chinese medicine, the practitioner also uses herbs and other materials in a tea, to assist in the treatment. The practitioner will customize a blend of herbs for his patient, based on his specific symptoms and diagnosis. Many Chinese herb pharmacies exist in many places nowadays, but the practitioner will often create the herb combination himself.

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