Acupuncture involves the insertion of ultra-thin stainless steel needles into specific points on the body. These points have been identified as having special healing properties when stimulated and have been mapped out along the course of subtle energy channels that run just under the surface of the skin.
According to the traditional medical systems of Asia, illness arises as a result of blockages that begin within these subtle energy channels. Stimulating acupuncture points will produce energetic change along the course of their respective acupuncture channels, stimulating blood flow to targeted organs and regions of the body and awakening the body’s own mechanisms for self-healing.
Modern MRI studies have shown that stimulating acupuncture points with needles brings about changes in blood flow to certain parts of the brain. For example, needling a point on the small toe, a point which traditionally has been used to treat eye diseases, will result in a change in blood flow to the part of the brain that governs vision.
The theory that subtle channels of energy run along the surface of the body and communicate with the brain, nervous system, internal organs, muscles and connective tissues forms the basis for virtually all the medical practices arising in Asia over the past five thousands of years. Acupuncture was developed, refined and tested scientifically in the East by hundreds of generations of medical practitioners. Unlike modern pharmaceuticals which is comprise a relatively new form of medicine and whose long-term effects are largely unknown, acupuncture has been shown over millennia to be both a safe and effective methods of treating a wide range of diseases.