Acupuncture is an ancient and complete system of medicine. It dates as far back as five thousand years. In its beginnings, acupuncture first resembled a Shamanic healing tradition which has expanded to become a well-recognized more clinically based medicine.
Today, acupuncture is practiced in hospitals and villages alike throughout the world. At its heart, acupuncture is a medicine that seeks to create balance through the use of accessing the Qi (Energy) mechanism throughout the 365 points on meridians (pathways) of the body. The primary philosophy behind Acupuncture involves the balance between Yin and Yang. The beauty of acupuncture rests squarely in its acknowledgement of the profound link between human beings, the natural world, and spirit. Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual imbalances are all well treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which seeks to always treat the whole person.
In the West, many people come to acupuncture when nothing else has seemed to work or as an adjunct to their allopathic treatments and they are pleased with the results TCM offers. Others know that in addition to being a medicine that not only treats acute and chronic health issues it also is a profoundly effective means of prevention of illness as well as a strong modality for health maintenance and optimization.
The World Health Organization and the National Instistute of Health recognize Acupuncture to be effective in the treatment of Addiction, Anxiety, Arthritis (osteo and rheumatoid), Asthma, Bronchitis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Colitis, Common Cold, Constipation, Dental Pain, Depression, Diarrhea, Digestive Trouble, Dizziness, Dysentery, Emotional Problems, Eye Problems, Facial Palsy/Tics, Fatigue, Fertility, Fibromyalgia, Headache, Hiccough, Incontinence, Infertility, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Low Back Pain, Menopause, Menstrual Irregularities, Migraines, Morning Sickness, Nausea or vomiting, Osteoarthritis, Pain, PMS, Pneumonia, Rhinitis, Sciatica, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Sinusitis, Sleep Disturbances, Sore Throat, Stress, Tennis Elbow and Urinary Tract infections. For more information the following book is highly recommended: The Web that Has No Weaver by Ted J. Kaptchuk.