Explain acupuncture?

what is acupuncture and why is it so effective?

Chinese medicine theory believes most problems in the body originate from problem's in the body's chi (vital energy). As such, one of their main approaches towards medicine is to fix problems in the chi instead of just working with the physical body. A lot of other medical systems utilize similar theories (or do so without realizing it, as in the case of homeopathy), but the chinese system is one of the more advanced developed ones in this regard.

Working with chi is often difficult, due to a variety of combinations, such as people not being able to feel it, chi being difficult for most to effect, or accurately addressing the problem in someone's chi requiring you to have a really high level of systems thinking/understanding.

There are many approaches to working with chi, but acupuncture is amongst the most popular since it makes it possible to do so without needing any of the previous requirements (ie. you don't have to feel the energy, just put needles in at a certain point).

In Chinese medicine theory, acupuncture works because there are "lots of pathways chi tends to flow in" (a couple thousand to be exact). One of the simplest ones (the acupuncture meridian lines) happens to be easy to find by memorizing points, and can effect the body through being acted on externally (whereas with some other energetic systems they have to be acted upon from the inside out, hence something like accupuncture would not work).

When the communist government came to power, and needed a health care system that would help China, they made a simplified form of acupuncture (TCM), that would be possible for the lay person to learn. Given the need for it to be easy to learn and accessible to most of the population, this was about the only realistic option they had.

Explaining how acupuncture works to someone with a worldview which rejects the possibility of "chi" existing (ie. anyone who's gone through the modern medicial system), isn't really possible. So, given that it runs on a train of thought divergant from their own it is either deemed "completely bogus" (it was this way for about 15 years), then "nothing more than placebo" (still somewhat that way), and now people are trying to explain it through things conventional instruments can sometimes detect (endorphins, which normally aren't applicable).

I had to write a 40 page paper on this for a thesis last semester, so if you want to know anything else about Chinese medicine I can probably tell you. Accepting the chi theory is the crux everything else in acupuncture lies upon. If you've ever experienced it, then all of this makes sense and seems plausible. If you are desensitized to it and never have, then all of this is an abstract idea that's easy enough to dismiss, and it's no different than me claiming needles summon invisible angles from heaven to heal you.

Hope that helps!

thousands of years old chinese practice... can be effective but not to be used for life-threatening disease alone... a blend of western and eastern medicine is usually best... I have not tried but I would...

acupuncture is when you pay big bucks to have people put needles in your back.

it's effective because people want to believe the money they spend will positively affect their health. it's called the placebo effect.

i have heard that its just an abundance of needles being pricked in various locations on the body and that somehow helps being sick or depressed and things like that... i wouldn't do it lol

they poke you with needles and there is tons of needles so it's supposed to dispurse the pain all across your body so it actually negatives your stress completely, but it's mostly a gimmick

It's cool, and it works.

In chinese medicine, they stick a needle in your pressure points and it loosens ur muscles.. It relaxes it..

It also runs down your nerves so thats why sometimes they stick needles in your leg to cure back pain haha..

Give it a try if you ever need it

Actually, no one can explain why it works. People can tell you their reason for why THEY think it works, but no one has any scientific proof yet. It does work though. Even better than the placebo effect. It really helped my herniated disk, when NOTHING else did.

Umm well basic idea, applying pain to a part of your body to rid current pain you have. (Not true but ex. Broken ribs..maybe you' get a pinch on the arm?) But it also can be lots of needles in the skin...not sure what good that does o.O

Acupuncture involves the insertion of extremely thin needles through your skin, to various depths at strategic points on your body. Acupuncture originated in China thousands of years ago, but over the past two decades its popularity has grown significantly within the United States. Although scientists don't fully understand how or why acupuncture works, some studies indicate that it may provide a number of medical benefits 鈥?from reducing pain to helping with chemotherapy-induced nausea.

For more information, click here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acupunc...

Read all about it here:

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/

I tried acupuncture for the first time at age 70. It works for me.
According to my Dr. the needles cause the muscles to relax and the body to produce endorphins..

Definition of Endorphin.
Endorphin: One of the body's own painkillers, an opioid (morphine-like) chemical produced by the body that serves to reduce pain.
Endorphins are manufactured in the brain, spinal cord, and many other parts of the body. They are released in response to neurotransmitters and bind to certain neuron receptors (the same ones that bind opiate medicines). Endorphins act as analgesics (diminishing the perception of pain) and as sedatives.

The Chinese acupuncturist believe that that every ones health is based on the yin and the yang,now if the meridians ( and there are twelve of these, one for each main organ of the body) are not balanced either high or low then the body is not in the best of health.
There are three light pulses, and on the same pulse only with more pressure (heavy) on each wrist corresponding to the twelve major organs of the body and from these pulses they can tell if the yin and the yang are not balanced, they then place needles, acupressure,or electrical stimulation to adjust the yin and yang. The basis of yin and yang is opposites (male & female,night & day) The acupunturist goes to the cause of the complaint not the symtoms.
You may have a headache which may be due to consitpation, bloodpressure,
onset of the flu,stomach,liver,kidneys and many more reasons for the headache..
These meridians are electical cucuits which activate cemicals in the brain and that is why they are the bodies own cemicals and do not give you any side effects or overdose..
This is all I have time to explain the very intricate workings of Chinese medicine.