What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a form of medical treatment which has been evolving over the course of around 2000 years from it’s origins in China.

A modern understanding of acupuncture conceives of it as the practice of stimulating the nervous system with needles for therapeutic effect. Simulating peripheral nerves in this way modifies the chemicals produced at various different levels of the nervous system, which in turn provides relief from the symptoms of illness, and increases our feelings of physical and emotional well being.

Chinese medicine has an intricate understanding of health and disease, and evolved with a concern for treating people as a whole. Physical and emotional health are seen as inseparable, and symptoms are viewed within the context of the person in their entirety. Acupuncture treatment is always aimed at generating not only changes in the symptom a patient presents with, but also with generating positive changes in the general well being of the patient as well.

Through its long and varied evolution, acupuncture has become a complex system of knowledge and techniques used to effect many different areas of health. Today, acupuncture has spread worldwide and is used by millions of people to ease the symptoms of ill health and promote health and well being.

In many countries it is used alongside or in conjunction with western medicine. In 2009 the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommended that acupuncture should be made available on the NHS, as a cost-effective short-term treatment for the management of early, non-specific lower back pain. In the same year, a Cochrane systematic review assessed the available evidence for acupuncture in the treatment of migraine and concluded that ‘acupuncture is at least as effective as, or possibly more effective than prophylactic medication, and has fewer adverse effects’. Previous clinical trials have demonstrated acupuncture’s use in nausea and vomiting, dental pain, chronic tension headaches and for the temporary relief of the osteoarthritic pain of the knee. In routine use acupuncture is used to effect many areas of health.

At this point in time we are able to understand acupuncture’s effects within the context of a modern biomedical understanding of the body, something that was not possible in traditional china.

When an acupuncture needle is inserted into the body it stimulates the peripheral nervous system. This creates local effects in the tissues surrounding the needle and more systemic effects in the central nervous system which influence the body as a whole. Locally, needling stimulates nerve endings which promote the release of vasodilating chemicals which increases blood flow and speed up tissue regeneration. In the spinal cord, acupuncture promotes the production of enkephalin which reduces pain and decrease muscle tension, and in the brain acupuncture promotes the production of endorphin, serotonin, and other neuropeptides which lift mood and promote sensations of calm and well being. Acupuncture also exerts deactivating effects on the limbic system, which is an area of the brain important in hormone regulation, sleep and wake cycles, and emotional equilibrium.

The overall aim of acupuncture treatment is to resolve the symptoms that you’re suffering with, and to improve your mood and general well being. The focus is always holistic and based around understanding symptoms as occurring in the context of the person as a whole.