Like many ancient sciences, acupuncture is a mixture of sophisticated practical techniques and unfounded superstitions. Unfortunately, many modern acupuncture practitioners have not been taught to distinguish between superstition and practicality, nor have they been encouraged by their teachers to examine their own methods critically. Thus, many of their techniques, and the theories that support them, have little clinical value. At best, they are simply a waste of time; at worst, they distract the acupuncturist from using more effective methods, and thereby inhibit the patient;s recovery. {Treatment of Disease with Acupuncture By Dr. James Tin Yau So }

Acupuncture has been known in the West for about 300 years. Although initially greeted with puzzlement, it attracted the attention of some Western physicians, and at times, particularly in the nineteenth century, it was used quite extensively. The main difference today is that interest in acupuncture is part of a wider enthusiasm for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and this has prompted a large number of health professionals (doctors, physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, podiatrists, for example) to wish to learn acupuncture in order to help their patients. They tend, however, to be discouraged by two preconceptions. One is that studying the traditional system is difficult and time-consuming, and the other is that treating patients in this way is itself time-consuming {Acupuncture in Practice Beyond Points and Meridians by Anthony Campbell}

According to the Chinese people, acupuncture therapy was originally discovered in the Stone Age (500,000 – 2,000 B.C.) which marked the beginning of Chinesc culture. It is, however, impossible to name any individual as the inventor of acupuncture therapy in China. The initial discovery of acupuncture therapy was believed to have originated from a series of accidents in which people involved had recovered from their wounds by means of a stone or a bone which accidentally pricked at them on the skin. As time went on, similar wounds had been healed by similar events, and so, the Chinese people began to realize by sheer instincts tbat wounds could be healed by pricking at the body on the skin. It was such primitive experiences of daily life that led the Chinese people to accumulate the spots on the skin which could produce therapeutic effects and which are known today as the acupuncture points.{ A COMPLETE TRANSLATION OF YELLOW EMPERORS CLASSICS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE (NEI-JING AND NAN-JING) #301 Volume One [su-wen] By Henry C. Lu, Ph.D.} The tradition of acupuncture theory believes that energy flows within the human body and this energy can be channelized to create balance and health. This energy flow is called qi and pronounced “chee”. So as the history of acupuncturegoes deep similarly its practice shows adverse effects in cure for many treatments.