What is acupuncture?

Acupuncture is an alternative form of healing

with a 5,000-year-old history. It is the use of exceptionally fine needles inserted into specific points in the body. The use of acupuncture has become more and more popular in the western world and as science keeps revealing can be quite beneficial for a vast array of conditions that may take you by surprise. There is great speculation about whether acupuncture is a placebo medicine or the real deal because of the use of many different theories and techniques however, when something can stand the test of time there has to be some element of the truth intertwined. I am not writing this to tell you that acupuncture is the be all and end all of healing, just to inform about what acupuncture is, how it can possibly help and answer a few questions I get asked being an acupuncturist in Melbourne, Australia.

A few questions constantly asked: Is there any medicine on the needle? And how does it work? And does it hurt? So, in short, there is no medicine on the needles. They are mainly stainless-steel filiform needles that are typically 0.25 mm gauge and range in size from 13 mm to 100 mm. To prevent any spread of blood borne disease and for sterility purposes the needles are single use and often packaged individually. Most commonly they are manufactured in China, Japan or Korea and are shipped world-wide. One of the most popular brands of acupuncture needle is manufactured in Japan and have a silicone coated needle tip for painless and easy insertion.

So, how does it work? These needles are inserted into acupuncture points that are located on meridians or pathways on the body to help facilitate the movement of Qi and blood around the body. This will act on the nervous system to send signals around the body to perform certain actions. These actions can be different to the ideology of Western Medicine as Traditional Chinese Medicine has a different view on how our organs function and interact with each other.

Okay, the more you read the more questions you have, right? What is Qi? Meridians? And how is this going to help me? Simply, Qi is energy. You may not be able to see it, it will not be on any x-ray, scan, or blood test however, you can feel it. To try and keep this as sensible as possible, it is what helps everything move in your body. When you feel down and low energy, that is your body saying, “I don’t have enough Qi.” This “Qi” moves on meridians in the body. They can be thought of as pathways or highways in the body that your Qi flows through and just like any other highway, these can be blocked and cause trouble in our lives. This is where acupuncture comes into play, acupuncture points are located on these highways and are often used to unblock them or connect them through energy or Qi. This can sound a little bit ridiculous if you are sceptical of the process although I often hear patients telling me that they feel a sensation that follows these meridians perfectly when I am giving them acupuncture.

Which leads onto the next question of pain? Acupuncture is not designed to hurt. The needles are very thin and pass through the layers of the skin with ease which by passes the sensitive nerve endings found there. The sensation you may feel can be described in many ways and differs from person to person, we are all different. It is often said that it is a dull, heavy feeling that can be radiating or travelling from one acupuncture point to another.

All this chit-chat about acupuncture points and meridians can seem a bit left field however, it had to come from somewhere, right? I stated earlier that it has a 5,0000-year-old history, now it was not always well defined like the acupuncture we use today, and I am sure it was not as painless. It began like most healing practices, with curiosity. They found that certain points on the body were more tender or sore than others when palpating, and as time went on, this followed a pattern in people with certain ailments. These points started to get mapped out and after time became standardised. There are roughly 2,000 acupuncture points on the body from head to toe and there are many types of acupuncture that have branched off the meridian theory over time through mainly Japan and Korea.

In Australia, acupuncturists and Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners are regulated and moderated by AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency). AHPRA implements the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme across Australia. Alongside them is 15 National Health Practitioner Boards in which Traditional Chinese Medicine is one. There are strict rules and guidelines in which we all must follow in order to get registered and to stay registered. We are required to complete at least 20 hours of professional development a year to keep our knowledge up on new information in a growing world and to not fall into old, bad habits. We must also comply with their professional standard and advertising guidelines. As you can see, there is a lot of regulation and watchful eyes keeping the industry in check. These watchful eyes mean that you should be able to trust that if you find an acupuncturist near you, you can find them on the national register, know that they are being compliant and are fully qualified, fully certified acupuncturists.

Another question I get asked almost every day is: What should I be doing whilst getting acupuncture? It is a very valid question and can be answered many ways. Typically, an acupuncture session will last 20-30 minutes of you lying on the massage table, face up or face down depending, with a bunch of pins in you so you cannot move. Every practitioner is different, and every treatment room is different, some, will have light music playing in the background and the lights off for a more relaxed mood, others, may just leave you laying there with your thoughts or possibly talk your ears off. For me, it depends on what the patient wants. If they want to have a conversation, then I will happily indulge. I try and make my treatment rooms inviting and comfortable so that there are no questions or answers that cannot be said. It is often that patients will fall asleep, and that too, is perfectly fine. My opinion is, and always will be, take this time out of our busy lives to spend on yourself. If that means meditation or having a laugh or just quietly relaxing, then, by all means, go ahead.

The beauty of Chinese Medicine is that everyone is an individual and every patient should be treated as such. I hope that this has answered a few questions and queries you had surrounding acupuncture, given you a few more and given you an opportunity to learn a little snippet of our history. This article was not written to be the be all and end all of acupuncture, I want to insight curiosity, have people asking more questions and searching for further answers as this is how we grow and learn together. I know acupuncture can be left from centre and may not make much sense but if you still have any doubts or wonders, I recommend giving it a go. The best way to know is by experiencing it yourself.