Acupuncture is a Chinese form of treatment which has been practiced in China and countries in the Far East for some 3500 years, but the exact date of its origin is difficult to determine.

Acupuncture is one of the therapeutic techniques used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which has its own complete system of anatomy, physiology and diagnosis: the main tenets are described in detail in the Nei Ching Su Wen. The traditional Chinese viewed the human body as a balance between two opposing forces, yin and yang: yin represents placidity or water, while yang represents activity or fire. If yin or yang are deficient or in gross excess, the balance between them is distorted and disease results.

The Chinese concept of health can best be defined as a normal fluctuating balance between yin and yang; their system of diagnosis and therapy is designed to particularise the imbalance of yin and yang and correct it, thereby restoring the body to a health state. In order to effect this change, the Chinese insert needles into acupuncture points.

However, not all acupuncturists use a traditional Chinese approach; some just treat the tender points that arise in a variety of musculoskeletal diseases. A number of clinical trials have shown that the treatment of tender trigger points for painful diseases produces a defined and significantly useful clinical result.

Some acupuncture texts suggest that it is a universal system for treating almost all illness, but in the West it is primarily used for treating pain caused by problems with the muscles, bones and joints, although it may often be used to treat illness such as irritable bowel syndrome or asthma. Acupuncture can also help to provide pain relief for people with cancer. There has been quite a lot research in acupuncture in comparison to some of the other complementary therapies. We know that it can help in headache and migraine, dental pain and low back pain. Its use has also been well evaluated in the treatment of nausea (early morning sickness, post-anesthetic nausea and the nausea which is caused by using powerful anti-cancer drugs). There is some evidence that acupuncture might help improve and accelerate recovery after a stroke and while acupuncture does not appear to work to help people give up smoking, it can help overcome the withdrawal period from other harder drug addictions. Acupuncture may help people with asthma, although the evidence is a little conflicting at the present time. For many illnesses, the effect of acupuncture has not been properly assessed so it is not really fair to say that we understand the true scope or benefit that acupuncture may have in treating a whole variety of different conditions.