Acupuncture is the insertion of sterile, disposable, single-use needles into the skin in order to:

Improve circulation by enhancing generation of nitric oxide (1).

Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, meaning it relaxes the inner muscles of your blood vessels, increasing blood flow and regulating blood pressure.

Release muscle tension and pain by stimulating and breaking up bands of bound muscle fibers called trigger points.

Relieve pain by producing endorphins, your body’s natural opioid-like peptides.

Acupuncture has been shown to stimulate the release of enkephalin, beta-endorphin, endomorphin, and dynorphin, which together have an analgesic (pain relieving) effect similar to opioid drugs but without the side effects.

Activate the parasympathetic nervous system (2), the body’s “rest and digest” state in which healing can occur.

When our body is in a state of stress and our sympathetic nervous system or “fight or flight” mode is engaged, we instead experience increased muscle tension, blood pressure, and inflammation.

Regulate the immune system by stimulating production of cytokines, T-cells, and B-cells (3).

Acupuncture is part of a system of medicine originating in China over 3,000 years ago. It has truly withstood the test of time, undergoing numerous processes of critical inquiry, experimentation, formalization, and refinement throughout the millennia in East Asia primarily. In the past 100 years there has been another phase of evolution through its interaction and integration with Western medicine practices and research. The two modalities complement each other well, with Chinese medicine able to offer effective solutions in many arenas where Western medicine falls short.

The sensations produced via acupuncture needles can vary from little to no sensation at all to an achy heavy sensation at the site of the needle and radiating out. Sensations vary from person to person and based on the location of the point and other factors. Feeling a dull, heavy, achy sensation is a good indication that the point is activated and it is doing what it is supposed to be doing. Few patients report pain with acupuncture needling in large part because the needles used are incredibly fine, much much thinner than a hypodermic needle used to draw blood.

Acupuncture is a comprehensive system of medicine that is capable of treating a wide variety of ailments. A 2003 report by the World Health Organization published a comprehensive evaluation of the existing research on acupuncture at the time. Based on the existing research, the WHO determined that acupuncture “has been proved through controlled trials to be an effective treatment” for the following conditions. Note, this list is non-exhaustive and nearly two decades old; there has been much more positive research on acupuncture since 2003.

Treatment of Pain Conditions:

Dysmenorrhoea, primary

Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)

Headache

Knee pain

Low back pain

Neck pain

Periarthritis of shoulder

Postoperative pain

Sciatica

Sprain

Tennis elbow

Tooth pain

TMJ dysfunction

Treatment of Internal Conditions:

Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy

Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)

Biliary colic

Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)

Dysentery, acute bacillary

Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)

Hypertension, both essential and primary

Induction of labour

Leukopenia

Malposition of fetus, correction of

Morning sickness

Nausea and vomiting

Renal colic

Rheumatoid arthritis

Stroke

Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)

Acne vulgaris

Alcohol dependence and detoxification

Bell’s palsy

Bronchial asthma

Cancer pain

Cardiac neurosis

Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation

Cholelithiasis

Competition stress syndrome

Craniocerebral injury, closed

Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent

Earache Epidemic hemorrhagic fever

Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)

Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection

Female infertility

Facial spasm

Female urethral syndrome

Fibromyalgia and fasciitis

Gastrokinetic disturbance

Gouty arthritis

Hepatitis B virus carrier status

Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)

Hyperlipaemia

Hypo-ovarianism

Insomnia

Labour pain

Lactation, deficiency

Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic

Ménière disease

Neuralgia, post-herpetic

Neurodermatitis

Obesity

Opiate dependence

Osteoarthritis

Pain due to endoscopic examination

Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans

Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein–Leventhal syndrome)

Postextubation in children

Postoperative convalescence

Premenstrual syndrome

Prostatitis, chronic

Pruritus Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome

Raynaud’s syndrome, primary

Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

Retention of urine, traumatic

Schizophrenia Sialism, drug-induced

Sjögren syndrome

Sore throat (including tonsillitis)

Spine pain, acute

Stiff neck

Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

Tietze syndrome (Costochondritis)

Tobacco dependence

Tourette syndrome

Ulcerative colitis, chronic

Urolithiasis Vascular dementia

Whooping cough (pertussis)

Further list of conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown through research but more research is recommended.

Chinese medicine is the greater philosophical and medical system of which acupuncture is a part. Other Chinese medical modalities include herbal medicine, moxibustion (heat therapy and herbal medicine applied to acupuncture points), dietary therapy, qi gong (similar to tai chi or kung fu, with a focus on internal energy flow), and tui na (massage).

On the one hand, each of these modalities can be seen as a complete system unto itself. For example, a skilled Japanese moxibustion therapist can use moxibustion to treat high blood pressure quite successfully. A skilled qi gong master could do the same. On the other hand, each modality also has its own affinity and superiority for treating particular conditions. For example, acupuncture has an unparalleled ability to remove pain, immediately in some cases, in the treatment of conditions such as sciatica.

What these modalities have in common is a shared framework rooted in Chinese philosophy and cosmology. A shared understanding of the organ networks, yin-yang, the five elements, the six stages… all are lenses of understanding our reality and our physiology in an artful and clinically effective way.

Acupuncture is relatively painless, and the most common negative side effect is bruising or soreness on rare occasions.

Because of how acupuncture works on the whole system, patients often report improvements in many other symptoms in addition to the main complaint that is bringing them in. Some common “side effects” of acupuncture are:

Improved sleep and digestion.

Pain relief at multiple sites of the body.

Reduced stress and greater emotional balance.