Introduction

Chronic pain is a massive problem for many people, and sometimes conventional medicine just cannot fix the problem. Thus, patients have been reaching out for different methods of treatment, acupuncture being one of them. Ever since its introduction to America in the 1970s, acupuncture has been gradually accepted among the medical community. Although there are concerns about the efficacy of acupuncture, the National Health Interview Survey conducted by the CDC in 2012 indicates that 3.5 million Americans have used acupuncture in the last 12 months.

How Acupuncture Works

Acupuncturist doctors insert fine needles into certain points in the skin to increase the circulation of Qi, or life force, in the patient’s body. Their body may feel tender, numb or heavy in response to the needles. This is called De Qi, and is thought to be the arrival of Qi, or the needling response. The needle locations follow the law of Bu Xie, also known as the law of tonification (Bu) and sedation (Xie). Bu is normally used when parts of the body are lacking in vital energy and might appear as fatigue. Xie on the other hand is often used when the body is experiencing pain, and can even be used in surgery and childbirth (“The Great Law of Bu-Xie”). This method of treatment is vital to retain balance (pun intended).

From a more modern standpoint, the needles stimulate or calm the body when they hit specific nerve endings located throughout the body. Each point will send signals through the spinal cord to the brain. Different acupoints affect different parts of the brain, which sends commands to the respective body parts they control. Instead of using external medicines to treat patients, acupuncture merely tells the body to heal itself. As a result, there are no side effects after treatment.

Increased Pain Threshold

Acupuncture can increase the pain threshold. The more acupuncture is performed on a patient, the more accustomed the body becomes to the electrical stimulation (Stacher G. et al, 1975). Since the brain releases neurotransmitters and hormones to reduce inflammation, the increased pain threshold naturally blocks out some discomfort as pain levels lower. Another explanation is that the needles adjust normal tissues to absorb inflammatory metabolites and thus relieve the pain. However, the inflammation will not disappear instantly; the acupuncture treatment process requires regular sessions to control it while the body self-repairs.

Author’s Note

The practitioners at the All Natural Medicine Clinic have treated patients since 1976, both in China and America. They received both conventional and traditional Chinese medical training. In addition to their training, they also researched ways to combine both conventional medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Works Cited

“The Great Law of Bu-Xie. This Is the Law of Tonification (BU) and Of …” Chiropractic Resource Organization, chiro.org/acupuncture/ABSTRACTS/FILES/Point_Locations.pdf. Accessed 23 Sept. 2023.

Stacher G;Wancura I;Bauer P;Lahoda R;Schulze D; “Effect of Acupuncture of Pain Threshold and Pain Tolerance Determined by Electrical Stimulation of the Skin: A Controlled Study.” The American Journal of Chinese Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1092151/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2023.