Acupuncture is well-known family of procedures involving the stimulation of anatomical points on the body using a variety of techniques, the most common and well known being needles. It was practiced in China as a way to balance the yin and the yang in a person. Scientists are studying the efficacy of acupuncture for a wide range of conditions.

As of 1997, the National Institutes of Health stated that acupuncture is being “widely” practice for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.  There are very few problems with acupuncture.  Most come because the doctor doesn’t know what he or she is doing or because the needles weren’t properly sterilized before use. If acupuncture is done wrong, it can cause serious adverse effects, including infections and punctured organs. Make sure your doctor knows that you are having acupuncture done, just like if you were taking a medicine.

Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. Everyone is different, but most people experience little or no pain as the needles are inserted. Some feel envigorated, while others feel relaxed.  Chronic back pain is, statistically, the biggest reason people get acupuncture. A very recent study found that it's effective: people suffering from chronic low back pain who received acupuncture or simulated acupuncture treatments fared better than those receiving only conventional care. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Cherkin DC, Sherman KJ, Avins AL, et al. A Randomized Trial Comparing Acupuncture, Simulated Acupuncture, and Usual Care for Chronic Low Back Pain. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2009;169[9]:858–866.)

The link below is for the intro to acupuncture presented by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health.

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

 Article by Alex Heimbigner