Although many practitioners believe in the power of the mind to aid healing, acupuncture is not a therapy based on ‘placebo effect.’ While acupuncturists often encourage mental exercise such as meditation during treatment, it is not necessary for the patient to have an understanding (or belief) of the mechanism of each treatment. The effectiveness of a treatment may seem magical and mysterious, but this impression is usually due to the surprise of success!
The Oriental perspective on acupuncture combines ancient knowledge with modern practice. Acupuncture is practiced in all forms of Oriental medicine (chiefly Chinese, Korean, and Japanese). The first medical text on acupuncture is 2500 years old. The balance of yin and yang in the body is the oldest theory, in which all the body’s elements can be compared and balanced with one another. Qi (vital energy) is everywhere in the body, and is a series of processes that acupuncturists manipulate in order to affect deeper areas. The principle of wholism tells us that since everything in the body is connected, we can treat a small area that reflects the entire body (such as the hand or ear). Finally, many theories within acupuncture are based on modern clinical practice. In every treatment, points that have been tested thousands of times in clinical setting will be used again, in a variety of constellations.
