Thin needles are used and inserted to stimulate specific points in the skin called meridians which are said to be energy paths to cure sickness and guarantee general good health.

When a person gets sick or get injured the chi (pronounced either 'chee' or 'kie', like pie) gets blocked and positive energy stops flowing.

Along the body's exterior surface, there are different points of acupuncture scattered all over, around 365 points. All these points follow 14 main meridian paths.

When these specially designed needles are put at certain locations on the meridians, the blocks are removed and enables the chi to now circulate freely.

The concept is similar to clearing blocks that are stopping a river from flowing freely. Acupuncture normalizes the flow of 'chi' so that it flows freely and steadily, not too fast and not too slow.

This form of healing has been used in China for at least 4,000 years, as evidenced by these needles being found in archaeology digs of the late Shang Dynasty (c. 1000 BC).

The three types of acupuncture are traditional Yin/Yang Theory, Five Elements, and the Western or medical acupuncture.

The methods used in the different types of this medicine, both to diagnose as well as to treat, are the same, but the approach towards determining the origin of the illness and the treatment vary somewhat between styles.

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.

Based on this, it's thought that only if inner stress is taken care of can physical illness or symptoms be cured.

Five elements method is a slow process, as it does not merely treat the symptoms but the reason behind the illness. Because of this, the process takes a longer period of time to achieve full recovery.

The Yin/Yang theory is based on the theory that overall balance of the Yin and Yang is needed to achieve good health. In this type of acupuncture, needles are pierced on different points along the meridian so that different illnesses can be healed.

Western acupuncture focuses on short-term, immediate cure of illnesses, and combines both Western and Eastern medical techniques. There are two sub-categories of this method.

The first is the anesthetic acupuncture. This is used in surgical and dental procedures. It is used for temporary pain relief or as an analgesic for instant effect.

The second category is acupuncture used to treat long-term illnesses.

Some very respectable and popular medical research says that this method is very effective for curing allergies, depression, arthritis, asthma, gynecological disorders, infertility, high blood pressure and migraines.

Some chronic illnesses which have not had satisfactory results from conventional treatments have been cured using acupuncture. It has also been effective in treating illnesses caused by problems associated with lifestyle.