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What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a primary modality of Oriental Medicine practitioners.  It's history goes back 5000 years.  With it's effectiveness proven with time-tested results.   Acupuncture incorporates a number of  modalities, see acupuncture techniques to learn more.

It draws a constellation of your unique symptoms connecting them in a cohesive pattern.  We suss out these symptoms by asking a lot of questions and observing.  I will probably ask you what seems like random and funny questions, things your MD probably would never ask.  Oriental medicine is a holistic medicine, we understand how the body should work in physiologic harmony and are able to identify disharmony.  These disharmonies are responsible for what ails us.  It is why we can't fall asleep or why our emotions are abrubt, yet it goes deeper and can also help with the symptoms of life-threatening diseases.  With very few to no side effects acupuncture is a great option for people who want to feel better. 

Learn more about the benefits of acupuncture


The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes over 100 conditions that acupuncture can help treat


Abdominal pain 
Acne vulgaris  
Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy  
Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)  
Bell’s palsy 
Biliary colic 
Bronchial asthma  
Cancer pain  
Cardiac neurosis  
Cholecystitis        
Cholelithiasis  
Competition stress syndrome  Craniocerebral injury, closed 
Depression
Diabetes mellitus
Dysentery
Dysmenorrhoea
Earache 
Epidemic haemorrhagic fever  Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and  Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)  
Eye pain 
Facial pain
Facial spasm  
Female infertility  
Female urethral syndrome  
Fibromyalgia and fasciitis  
Gastrokinetic disturbance  gastrospasm) Gouty arthritis  
Headache  
Hepatitis B virus carrier status  
Herpes zoster 
Hyperlipaemia  
Hypertension
Hypo-ovarianism  
Hypotension
Induction of labour  
Insomnia 
Knee pain  
Labour pain 
Lactation 
Leukopenia  
Low back pain  
Male sexual dysfunction
Malposition of fetus
Ménière disease  
Morning sickness  
Nausea and vomiting  
Neck pain  
Neuralgia, post-herpetic  Neurodermatitis  
Obesity          
Osteoarthritis        
Pain in dentistry         
Pain in shoulder 
Polycystic ovary syndrome 
Postextubation in children  Postoperative convalescence  Postoperative pain  
Premenstrual syndrome 
Prostatitis
Pruritus  
Radicular pain syndrome  
Raynaud syndrome
urinary-tract infection 
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy  
Renal colic  
Retention of urine
Rheumatoid arthritis  
Schizophrenia  
Sciatica  
Sialism
Sjögren syndrome  
Sore throat (including tonsillitis)  
Spine pain, 
acute  Sprain  
Stiff neck  
Stroke  stroke        
Temporomandibular joint dysfunction  Tennis elbow  
Tietze syndrome 
Tobacco dependence  
Tourette syndrome  
Ulcerative colitis, 
Urolithiasis  
Vascular dementia 
Whooping cough (pertussis) 

How does it work?

The mechanism of action is still unknown.  There are some strong theories about how it might work.  Personally I think that the acupuncture meridians are a map of an information super highway within the body where the Einsteinian laws of physics appy.  Yes, I'm thinking worm holes, which follow quantum mechanics.  I could spend days writing out equations to prove this idea, but I'm sure I would have lost you, that is if I haven't already.  

Two interesting studies were recently published:

1. Using dyes lighting a map of classical acupuncture meridians
Kwang-Sup Soh,  Bonghan Circulatory System as an Extension of
Acupuncture Meridians
,  J Acupunct Meridian Stud 2009;2(2):93−106

2. Utilizing fMRI to demonstrate that areas of the brain responsible for controlling a function are highly active when points used on meridians are activated.  These points are for example on the foot to control LV function.  When this point is needled, fMRI showed activity in this area of the brain.
Huang W, Pach D, Napadow V, Park K, Long X, et al. (2012) Characterizing Acupuncture Stimuli Using Brain Imaging with fMRI - A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature. PLoS ONE 7(4): e32960. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032960

3. Resistance at a specific acupuncture point is highly different than in surrounding tissues