Acupuncture is one of the oldest, and most commonly used medical procedures in the world. Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese health practice that restores and maintains health by puncturing the skin at particular locations, called acupuncture points, with hair-thin needles on the patient's body. Moxibustion, the warming of acupuncture points through the use of smouldering herbs, is often used as a supplement and the needles may also be stimulated using a small electric current.

In the past two decades, acupuncture has grown in popularity in the United States. In 1993, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimated that Americans made 9 to 12 million visits to acupuncture practitioners and spent around half billion on acupuncture treatments per year. This treatments has been used in North America for relief or prevention of pain and for a variety of health conditions.

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The earliest records of acupuncture date back over 2,000 years, but some authorities believe that the practice of acupuncture began 4000 years ago, during the Stone Age. At that time, stone knives or sharp edged tools, described by the character 'Bian', were used to puncture and drain abscesses. In fact the Chinese character 'Bian' means the 'use of a sharp edged stone to treat disease', and the modern Chinese character 'Bi', representing a disease of pain, is almost certainly derived from the use of 'Bian stones' for the treatment of painful complaints.

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Traditional Chinese medicine believed that there are as many as 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body, which are connected by 20 pathways (12 principal meridians, 8 extra meridians) called meridians system. Chinese medicine practitioners believe these meridians conduct energy, or qi, between the surface of the body and internal organs.

According to traditional Chinese medicine, Qi is believed to regulates spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance in the body. Qi is influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang. When yin and yang are balanced, they work together with the natural flow of qi to help the body achieve and maintain health. Acupuncture is believed to assess and adjust the flow and distribution of "Qi" in order to keep the normal flow of energy unblocked and promote health and healing.

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The World Health Organization Interregional Seminar drew up the following provisional list of diseases that lend themselves to acupuncture treatment. The list is based on clinical experience, and not necessarily on controlled clinical research:

 

Digestive	Emotional	Eye-Ear-Nose-Throat	Gynecological
Abdominal pain Constipation Diarrhea Hyperacidity Indigestion	Anxiety Depression Insomnia Nervousness Neurosis	Cataracts Gingivitis Poor vision Tinnitis Toothache	Infertility Menopausal symptoms Premenstrual syndrome
Musculoskeletal	Neurological	Respiratory	Others
Arthritis Back pain Muscle cramping Muscle pain/weakness Neck pain Sciatica	Headaches Migraines Neurogenic bladder dysfunction Parkinson's disease Postoperative pain Stroke	Asthma Bronchitis Common cold Sinusitis Smoking cessation Tonsillitis	Addiction control Athletic performance Blood pressure regulation Chronic fatigue Immune system tonification Stress reduction
Source: World Health Organization, United Nations. "Viewpoint on Acupuncture." 1979 (revised)

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