Traditional Acupuncture

What is traditional acupuncture

    Acupuncture is one of the main elements of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), used widely in the treatment of various conditions in the major disciplines of internal medicine, orthopaedics, gynaecology, obstetrics, mental health and paediatrics.

    Acupuncture is now used in many NHS GP practices, as well as in some pain clinics and hospices in the UK. More and more GP’s, physiotherapists and nurses are starting to undertake short-term, elementary courses in acupuncture.

    In TCM theory, central to acupuncture is the TCM concept of qi, a fundamental energy which takes on different forms and functions in various parts of the body. Qi reaches the body’s different organs and tissues through the system of channels known as meridians, in turn controlling all the physiological aspects of our health. When Qi does not flow freely through the body, this can cause illness or disorders. Acupuncture can restore the flow of Qi by stimulating the points which lie on meridians, and so restore health.

    Scientists believe that acupuncture effects obtained by peripheral nerve stimulation, which results in the body producing indirect-regulation or homeostatic regulation of function.