Over 4,000 years ago, Shen Nung, the father of Chinese Medicine, conceptualized a Life Force flowing through the body. This Life Force, called Qi [CHEE], circulates through pathways called meridians similar to the way blood runs through the vessels in our bodies. He also identified hundreds of points along those meridians that, when stimulated by needles, affect physiological function.

Our health depends on the balance of Qi in our bodies, so when imbalance or blockage occurs, we experience pain, sickness and disease. Acupuncture can restore the balance by opening up those pathways. And, while there are many theories of how acupuncture actually works -- from stimulating neural transmitters to the releasing of opioids or natural morphine-like substances into the nervous system -- most theories agree that acupuncture influences the immune, circulatory, neurological, and hormonal systems of the body.

Acupuncture first gained popularity in the United States when President Richard M. Nixon first traveled to China in 1972. Public interest surged shortly afterwards when a journalist dramatically reported the success of acupuncture anesthesia during surgery. Once considered bizarre or little understood in this country, it is not unusual today for physicians to suggest acupuncture treatments, businesses to provide insurance policies that cover the treatment, or even to see acupuncture incorporated into story lines of popular television shows, like ER.

Chinese medicine is very different from the scientific approach we are used to. It is based on the promotion of health and does not limit its treatment to only one part of the body. Health is represented as a balance of yin and yang – two forces that represent the bipolar manifestation of all things in nature.