Acupuncture has its roots from the Stone Age in China, when people used pointy-edged rocks and knives made from stone to press into areas of the body to relieve pain. These primitive acupuncture tools were called bain.
Today, acupuncture is largely identified with the placement of tiny needles in a shallow manner into a person's skin, so the needles protrude. This is thought to distribute chi, or life force, more evenly throughout the body to heal from illness or disease.
One theory of how it works is that acupuncture releases endorphins, pain killer-like substances the body can produce on its own. These endorphins create feeling of calm and relaxation, reducing stress.
History
Historians estimate acupuncture to be between 2,000 to 3,000 years old and to have originated in China. By the Han Dynasty, (206 BC to 220 AD), stone tools were replaced by thin slivers of animal bone and also needles made from bamboo.
Later, during the Shang Dynasty (DATES), the invention of bronze casting made needles made from different kinds of metal possible.
The "Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine" ("Huang di Nei Jing") was recorded in 475 to 221 BC and provides details of how acupuncture is used. It also describes the use of moxibustion, where small glass cups are heated and placed on a person's back, forming a way to distribute chi, vital energy, more evenly throughout the body.
Today, acupuncture is commonly used to reduce stress, help people lose weight or stop smoking. It is continuing to gain ground in many U.S. cities, and more clinical research is being conducted on the effects acupuncture has on our health.
Time Frame
By 400 AD, the book, "A Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion" was produced in China and it detailed the exact number and names of acupuncture points for each meridian (energy pathway).
Today's modern acupuncture and acupressure still uses the same "grid" of points established in this text.
Geography
The word acupuncture is from the Latin, acus, meaning needle, and punctura, meaning puncture. There are reports from Jesuit missionaries from the 16th and17th centuries about acupuncture.
While it is generally acknowledged that acupuncture began in China as many recorded works about it were found there, dating back to 475 BC, relatively recent discoveries suggest acupuncture may have been practice outside of China, too.
In 1991, the remains of the "Austrian Iceman" was discovered in the Italian Alps, and it is said to be more than 5,000 year old. The mummified body has tattoos that correspond to classical acupuncture points, so scholars suggest acupuncture may have been practiced in this part of Europe.
Significance
While there are reports in the medical literature in the United States from the 1800s, it was really the 1971 report from James Reston, a New York Times reporter, who had gone to China and had a sudden case of appendicitis and he had surgery there as well as acupuncture. His positive experience with pain relief from acupuncture was noted. Several months later, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a positive assessment of acupuncture, giving it further credence.
That resulted in an explosion of interest by Americans in acupuncture.
By 1991, 8,000 non-physicians and 1, 500 physicians were practicing acupuncture in the United States and a 1993 article published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that Americans were spending $14 billion on "alternative therapies" that included acupuncture.
Benefits
As more Americans select alternative medical treatments in addition to or even in place of Western medical treatment, acupuncture is getting more attention and affirmation from the U.S. medical establishment.
This provides consumers a benefit in terms of health care options. Acupuncture treatments are inexpensive as compared to surgery and conventional drug therapy.
The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture was established in 1987. The Office of Alternative Medicine was created as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health in 1992. This office published a Consensus Statement verifying health benefits people could get from acupuncture. It listed treatment for addiction, asthma, headaches, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, stroke recovery, dental pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and menstrual cramps.
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