Acupuncture is an ancient form of needle therapy which is gaining popularity in the Western world. During a treatment, a very thin, disposable, solid, hair-like needle is inserted at specific points of the body. The stimulation of these points can do a number of things, such as trigger the release of natural painkillers, it can promote blood flow, it can relax shortened muscles, it can reduce stress, etc. And it can effect every major system of the body—cardiac, gastrointestinal, circulatory, cerebral, genitourinary, endocrine and immune systems. 

Acupuncture is an effective method of healthcare. Here are some reasons why:

#1 Acupuncture Treats Your Entire Body
Say you have lower back pain, you visit a Chinese medicine physician and your back pain goes away. But it is also likely that you’ll see improvements in other previously problem areas. The headache you’ve had or the insomnia you’ve experienced for years finally disappear. And suddenly you have more energy and are able to handle stress better. 

This happens because the focus is on treating the root cause of your health problems within the context of your own individual situation, and not on simply the symptoms presented. The ancient Chinese understood that the body is a coherent whole. Symptoms do not randomly appear in isolation. Instead they are manifestations of an underlying “imbalance”, and often this “imbalance” can give rise to many seemingly unrelated symptoms. For example, digestive upset stomach, unexplained fatigue, and anxiety may all be expressions of the same underlying imbalance. 

Compare this to how Western medicine treats symptoms with little consideration for how the body parts are connected and related. This is why in Western medicine we have doctors who specialize in different parts of the body—gynecologist for female reproductive organs, cardiologist for our heart, neurologist for our brain etc. In a more ideal medical system, doctors would be able to bring the whole picture together and offer more holistic remedies. 

Because Chinese medicine stems from an Asian perspective (versus a Cartesian one), Chinese medicine practitioners approach patients and their presenting symptoms in a more holistic fashion. So where a Western medicine practitioner might diagnose 6 different patients with stomach pain as suffering from peptic ulcer disease, the Chinese medicine practitioner may come up with 6 very different diagnosis depending on the patient’s individual situation. Ever wonder why drug ads on television are so long? The drug facts take up 10 seconds of the commercial, and then the remaining 50 seconds goes to covering possible side effects. This is because drug companies as well are looking at illness in isolation rather than in relation to a patient’s individual situation. 

Imagine how different the world would be if prescriptions could be customized for each individual? Actually, this is what already happens in a Chinese herbal pharmacy! 

#2: Acupuncture Cures Disease by Addressing the Root Cause
Question: What is a “cure”? 
Answer: A cure occurs when an illness does not come back. 

For the most part, Western medicine does not cure disease, but rather suppresses symptoms. If you are on for instance, high blood pressure medication, you generally will have to take it for the rest of your life. The problem doesn’t go away, because the problem is simply being managed. The drug doesn’t cure the problem. In fact, the drug is instead replacing a certain function of your body. And as soon as you stop taking the drug, the problem will return, and often it will be worse than when it started. 

Why is this the case? 

Although drugs may provide short-term relief, over time it could well worsen the underlying situation as it is interfering with the body’s self-healing mechanisms. Also drugs may correct an initial imbalance in the body, but in the process they will subsequently cause at least one other and often several other “imbalances”. Western medicine deals with this by prescribing additional drugs, which counteract the side effects of the first drug — eventually the patient ends up with a cocktail of drugs treating side effects, rather than the initial problem!! 

The objective is to stimulate the body’s self-healing mechanisms. This natural approach of letting the body heal itself surpasses anything that Western medicine has to offer. 

#3: Acupuncture Prevents Disease
Healthcare, which could be defined as a method of promoting and maintaining health is not the focus of our current medical system. A more accurate term for the focus of Western medicine is disease management. Disease management is important and certainly needed in our modern world, but it is not healthcare. 

Acupuncture and other areas of Chinese medicine such as herbal medicine, nutrition, tai chi and qi gong restore homeostasis and keep the body functioning at an optimal level. When the body is functioning well, you are less likely to get sick, and more likely to recover quickly when you get sick. This is healthcare—it is a complete system of medicine that has been in use for thousands of years.