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There are approximately 360 Acupuncture points on the body. The examples above.
There are also another 50-100 regularly used Extra Points and innumerable A-Shi Points (Tender Points)
The 360+ Points are located on 14 defined Meridians. (Example above)
The Meridians are named after body organs, such as, The Foot Shao-Yin Kidney Meridian
The Meridian names are not based on the kidney's anatomy and physiology from western science but on Chinese Medical Theory of the kidneys functions within the scope of the entire body. Practitioners will often speak of kidney patterns of disease, but may not be speaking about the physical kidneys, but only of function.
Acupuncture is powerful in its ability to regulate and correct the bodies imbalances.
For example, imagine a patient who has suffered trauma to their ankle. The common signs are redness, swelling, inflammation, and fever or heat. Trauma causes an over abundance of energy, such as Qi and Blood, to the local area, resulting in blood stasis and stagnation. Most of us use ice and prop our ankle up for relief. In Acupuncture, we often start by needling distant points to help move some of the energy so that we can reduce swelling and speed up the healing process, while relieving or reducing pain. When trauma occurs we seldom needle the injured area for the first 24-48 hours. Furthermore, we could use external herbal plasters and decoctions to aide the healing process.
Most of us know that pain can be very subjective, what some may consider painful, others consider uncomfortable. Acupuncture is one of the safest and least invasive medical treatments in the world. Most of the time acupuncture is painless, except for a little needle prick in the skin. Acupuncture needles are very thin, and usually never cause any bleeding.
