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With the growing acceptance of alternative medicine in Western cultures, acupuncture is quickly becoming a popular practice. More and more people today are choosing acupuncture over western medicine to treat bodily pains, relieve stress, or to promote overall health. If you are thinking about trying acupuncture but are wondering if it is safe or if it’s the right treatment for you, the following information may aid you in making a more informed decision.

Description and Origin

Acupuncture is the practice of inserting fine needles into specific points in the body for therapeutic purposes. According to theory, these specific points called “acupuncture points” lie along pathways of the body along which one’s vital energy is said to flow. The needles are used to promote free-flow of energy in areas of the body that circulation may have stagnated. Although acupuncture is practiced in many Asian cultures such as Japan, Tibet, and Korea the practice is commonly known to have originated in China.

Acupuncture in the Western World

One of the most debated issues between the East and the West is the use of acupuncture as a western means of medical treatment. Even though this form of medicine has been used as an effective method for over five thousand years in China, there is no concrete evidence from scientific research studies that have proven the healing properties of acupuncture.

Skeptics shrug off the positive effects of acupuncture as merely placebo effects. Believers in acupuncture, however, say that the benefits have simply not yet been proven. Believers promote that the treatment is harmless and can be used as a complement to western medicine.

Unfortunately, standards of acupuncture have not been fully approved by the FDA due to many unregulated practices that still exist such as the re-use of needles. Furthermore, acupuncture certification today is mostly a sham, used to make money on desperate patients who have not benefited from western medical treatments. The National Council Against Health Fraud has even declared acupuncture as an unproven means of treatment whose concepts of healing are primitive and false.

Should You Try It

One thing that Western science can agree upon is that there are no proven harmful effects of acupuncture. Many doctors agree that as long as a medication is not detrimental to one’s health, then there is no reason why it should not be used if there are noticeable benefits. Most scientists would also state that it is simply due to a lack of research that the therapeutic properties of acupuncture have not yet been proven.

Although many forms Chinese medication remain debated concepts in Western society, there is a growing interest in these medications and perhaps as the acceptance of the practice grows, so will the discoveries about its medical properties.

More Information on Acupuncture

You can find more information about acupuncture at an acupuncture center close to you. You can easily locate nearby centers or practitioners by searching online. An appointment may be necessary as acupuncture centers are usually busy with long wait lists.

So if western medicine is not working for you and you are looking for an alternative, give some thought acupuncture. More and more people are discovering the therapeutic benefits of this ancient medicine. Acupuncture is safe and harmless, and therefore you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.