An ancient Chinese healing technique is used even today – Acupuncture which is very similar to acupressure. They both operate under the premise that if the energy in the body flows as it should, things will be back to a normal healthy state. Where good health exists, this energy, (called chi or qi) flows freely through these meridian channels but when disease or injury occurs; chi becomes blocked and does not flow. There are 365 points in the body that acupuncturists recognize and these are along the 14 meridians or energy paths.

The blockage is freed when acupressure or special needles are applied at specific points on the meridian where the “chi” is trapped. This can be compared to a river blocked with debris. Removing the blocking debris allows the river to freely flow without obstruction. Acupuncture regulates the flow of “chi” so it flows at a steady pace, not too fast and not too slow.

This form of medicine has been practiced in China for at least 4,000 years, with these needles found in archaeology digs of the late Shang Dynasty (c.1000 BC). There are three types and they are; Five Elements, Traditional Yin / Yang Theory and Western (or medical Acupuncture). Although all three have the same system of points and they use similar methods of diagnosis, each takes a dissimilar approach towards treatment of an illness and its cause. Alternative approaches are taken to arrive at the basic cause and treatment of an illness.

The five elements acupuncture, being strictly based on Chinese medicine's five element cycle, believes or assumes that a particular illness is most likely to be caused by either a physical cause or emotional stress. Based on this, it believes that physical cure can be achieved only by removing the mental stress first. Since the main emphasis within the five elements theory focuses on treating an illness's underlying cause, one should realize that it can be a very slow process in order to reach a complete recovery even though it is quite possible. The old yin/yang theory of acupuncture mainly concentrates in bringing back the entire balance of the yin and yang in the human body. Simultaneous stimulation of more than one element is achieved by stimulating the different acupuncture points on different meridians together.

Western acupuncture combines Eastern and Western medical techniques and its focus is more on urgent short term treatment. Among the two categories of medical benefits of Acupuncture, the first type, Anesthetic Acupuncture finds its place in surgeries and dental procedures. The second sub-category is that first-aid or symptomatic isn't used for the illness's diagnosis but in order to assist with the temporary relief of analgesic pain.

Some very respectable and reputable medical research has shown that it has been very effective at treating allergies, depression, arthritis, asthma, gynecological disorders, infertility, high blood pressure and migraines. As with healing methods dealing with energy, acupuncture effectively heals conditions not treatable with conventional treatment, persistent conditions and disorders and maladies arising due to lifestyles.