What is Acupuncture?

The use of acupuncture has been accepted and used for thousands of years in China. In the West, the use of acupuncture has been increasing for the past three decades.  In 1996, the American Veterinarian Medical Association stated that, "Veterinary acupuncture involves the examination and stimulation of specific points on the body of nonhuman animals by the use of acupuncture needles, moxibustion, injections, low level lasers, magnets, and a variety of other techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of numerous conditions in animals."

Acupuncture involves the stimulation of specific points on the body which improves the energy flow of the body, the body's Qi. Qi is the energy that controls harmony in any living body. It is the "vital source" or "life energy" that activates and maintains the life process. This energy is derived from our environment through such processes as nutrition and respiration. 

After thousands of years of practical use and numerous modern scientific investigations, we still find it difficult to answer the simple question, "What are acupoints?" In most of the studies, investigators have observed either high densities of nerve trunk neural transmitters, or vascular networks in the subcutaneous tissues at or near the site of acupoints. These points are found predominantly in depressions located along the cleavage between muscles, tendons, or bones. These acupoints communicate with the Zang-Fu organs by way of the meridian system. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, meridians are perceived as a complex network of major channels flowing through the body. Qi, the body's life energy, flows through these channels. We are able to tap into the body's energy, Qi, by needling and stimulating these acuppoints.

View Dr. Craigs acupuncture cases on our Eastern Medicine website: DvmNeedles.com