Introduction to Acupuncture
HISTORY
Acupuncture, one of the therapeutic techniques used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has its own complete system of anatomy, physiology and diagnosis. Its practice traces back roughly 3,500 years in China, with the first medical textbook dating to around 400 BC. Western physicians became acquainted with acupuncture in the 17th century, and by the early 19th century, it was widely utilised here in the UK.
The first edition of renowned medical journal The Lancet in 1823 carried a detailed report of the use of acupuncture in the treatment of rheumatism, extolling the virtues of the technique.
PHILOSPHY
Traditional Chinese culture viewed the human body as a balance between two opposing forces, yin and yang; yin represents placidity or water, while yang represents activity or fire. If yin and yang are deficient or in gross excess, that balance between them is distorted and disease results.
​
The Chinese concept of health can best be defined as a normal fluctuating balance between yin and yang; their system of diagnosis and therapy is designed to particularise the imbalance of yin and yang and correct it, thereby restoring the body to a state of health.
PHYSIOLOGY
Chinese acupuncture pioneers also developed a very sophisticated idea of physiology, and specific functions were defined for each of the 12 main organs, which are connected by corresponding channels, or meridians. This view of anatomy (acupuncture points and channels) and physiology, along with a detailed examination of the pulse and tongue, provides the basis for TCM.
METHOD
In order to balance the patient's yin and yang, needles are inserted into the acupuncture points. The majority of these are located on the 12 channels running over the body, each representing an internal organ. Qi, or vital energy, flows through these channels.
​
In disease, the flow of Qi is imbalanced. The insertion of an acupuncture needle into an appropriate point corrects the flow of vital energy, thereby restoring the body to health.