Since ancient times, practitioners of Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) have known that there are energy pathways that run through the body, similarly to how our nerves and blood vessels have pathways. Modern science is finding proof of these pathways, too.
The quirky thing about the energy pathways, which are also called meridians or channels, is that you cannot find them in a cadaver. This is one of the reasons why Western Biomedicine practitioners, who base so much of their anatomy learning on cadavers, have difficulty with understanding acupuncture. The pathways are not seen in cadavers. They only exist in living beings that are filled with life force energy. (Yep, that’s right, not just humans. All living beings have energy pathways!)
The Nei Jing Tu describes the function of the bodily systems.
Acupuncture Points on the face.
So, just like how our elbow, or the top of our hand, are good places to draw blood because the blood vessels are near the surface, there are places where the energy in the acupuncture pathways collect and come to the surface. These are where the acupuncture points are located.
The energy pathways can sometimes have issues with how the energy flows through them. When this happens, we have pain, illness, and dis-ease.
An easy analogy to use is similar to how a kinked garden hose will have too much pressure on one side of the kink (we would call this excess) and not enough flow on the other side (we would call this deficient). By applying treatment to specific points, we can help the body regulate its energy flow, and unkink the kinks, so to speak, and restore balance and harmony in the body.
As Traditional East Asian Medicine is a comprehensive medical system, it can essentially treat any condition because it treats the root issue in the body and rebalances it.
Comparing an acupuncture needle to a human hair strand.
When you come into the clinic for healing, after receiving a comprehensive and complete diagnosis, your TEAM practitioner will address the root cause of your issue as well as the symptoms. Only sterilized, one-time-use-only, filiform, ultra fine needles are used. They are applied to your body at specifically chosen locations, the acupuncture points, to stimulate your body’s innate healing response.
If you’d like more of a scientific and biomedical explanation, acupuncture has proven to do the following in clinical studies:
balance neurotransmitters,
increase serotonin and endogenous opioid peptide levels in blood stream,
improving cellular communication,
balance catecholamines,
increase mitochondrial function,
increase red and white blood cells,
boost immune function,
lower cortisol levels,
reduce inflammatory cytokines,
release endorphins,
releases prostaglandins,
decrease intracellular Ca++ ions,
assist in cellular recovery,
induce normal cellular function in formerly damaged cells,
improve intracellular health,
increase parasympathetic functioning (our resting and digesting),
calm sympathetic nervous system (our flight/flight/freeze/fawn response),
normalize hormone levels,
improve circulation,
stimulate nervous system,
inhibit pain,
increase bone marrow stimulation,
promote healing including wound healing,
promote nerve regeneration,
and enhance macrophage activity to clean up damaged cells.
In simpler terms, this means acupuncture can promote healing at a cellular level, thus effectively treating pain from the source of the problem.
For example, by increasing beta-endorphin concentrations, our sympathetic “fight or flight” response is reduced. When this happens, it produces a feeling of relaxation. This influences messages from our nervous system to our endocrine system to our immune system, essentially regulating & enhancing the function of all systems.
Even though the exact scientific mechanisms are not thoroughly understood or even known, the truth is Acupuncture Works!