Ancient Chinese medicine believes that the human skin is simply packed with hundreds of acupuncture pressure points which, when stimulated, will begin to vibrate. The vibrations from these acupuncture pressure points travels along “meridians,” freeing and rebalancing the flow of “qi,” or life force. The Chinese theory of acupuncture hold that when the flow of qi is compromised, illness results and until the flow is restored, the illness will continue. Different groups of acupuncture pressure points are used to treat different illnesses.

And Chinese medicine has determined, over thousands of years, that each set of acupuncture pressure points must be used to treat specific diseases. Using the wrong acupuncture pressure points will be useless, and can even be damaging. The meridians on which the different acupuncture points are situated run from the acupuncture pressure points through your body to the area or organ which the acupuncture procedure is treating, and only a qualified and experienced acupuncturist will be able to select the proper acupoints to provide relief for your symptoms. But the same acupuncture pressure points are used not only in traditional needle-based acupuncture, but in acupressure, sonopuncture, and laser acupuncture.

Your acupuncture points are classified according to different categories, each of which indicates how acupuncture can be used on them. Some of the categories are:

• The Five Points Phases
• Back-Shu
• Xi-Cleft
• Lou-connecting
• The Five Transporting Points (among the most often used)

Professional acupuncturists know which of these categories, with which method, should be applied to specific conditions so that the patient will receive the most benefits.