An ancient Chinese healing technique is used even today - Acupuncture which is very similar to acupressure. This is a method in which fine needles are placed in the skin at particular points - these points are called meridians and carry energy. The positive energy that is responsible for good health and a state of wellbeing is know as chi or qi and flows through the energy points known as the meridian. There are totally 14 paths of energy meridians in our body and 365 acupuncture points distributed on the surface of the body along these 14 meridians.

When specially designed needles or acupressure are placed at certain locations on the meridians the blocks are released thus enabling the chi to circulate freely. It is something like clearing the blocks in the path of the river to allow its free flow again. Acupuncture regulates the flow of 'chi' so it flows at a steady pace, not too fast and not too slow.

The needles used were found by archaeologists in the digs of the Shang Dynasty which dates back to 1000 BC; for the past four thousand years the Chinese have been practicing this as a form of medicine. There are three types and they are; Five Elements, Traditional Yin / Yang Theory and Western (or medical Acupuncture). There are three schools of this medicine, all using the same insertion points and parallel diagnostic methods; however they use distinctive approaches to the etiology of the basic cause of the sickness and the treatment.

The basis of five element acupuncture is the five element cycle seen in Chinese medicine; the underlying belief is that an illness can be due to a physical cause or emotional stress. Following along with all of this, the physical symptoms are only able to be alleviated when all of that inner stress has been dealt with. Although five elements method may help curing a person completely from his physical aliments it is a slow and gradual process because it begins by treating the fundamental causes of the ailment. The theory based on the traditional yin/yang theory mainly focuses on the restoring of overall balance of the yang and the yang within the body. Combinations of the different acupuncture points on the meridians are simultaneously stimulated so that more than one element is affected.

The Western Acupuncture methods are faster and the period of treatment is not very long - this form of therapy is a combination of both western and eastern practices. Relating to the medical aspect of acupuncture, there are two different sub-categories, which includes acupuncture which is used in dental and surgical procedures. The second: 'symptomatic' or first-aid isn't used for the diagnosis of the illness but merely to assist with temporary analgesic pain relief. Reputable medical research has found it to be effective in treating depression, allergies, asthma, arthritis, infertility, gynecological disorders, migraines and high blood pressure. It has been found to be one of the most effective methods to treat illnesses that persist for a long time without any results from accepted treatment or when the illness is caused by problems caused by one's lifestyle.

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