The practice
of acupuncture is the stimulation of certain acupuncture points on the human body for the purpose of controlling and regulating the flow and balance of energy in the body. The practice
includes the techniques of piercing the skin by inserting needles and point stimulation by the use of acupressure, electrical, mechanical, thermal or traditional therapeutic means.
Chinese medicine views the human body as a complete organic entity that interconnects the external phenomenal world and the physical bodily structure through a series of natural laws. Chinese medicine focuses attention on the patient rather than on the disease, grouping together signs and symptoms of a disease and synthesizing them, until a clear picture appears that provides a diagnosis of the person as a whole.
A patient's illness is closely related to the emotional and mental aspects of a person. The Chinese doctor will diagnose and treat the individual taking into consideration the continuum line produced by the interactions of body, mind and spirit. Generally, in Western medicine a disease is diagnosed according to what is happening to the mechanical structure of the organs in relation to the disease process. In Chinese medicine, the internal ORGANS are actually the power of ORGAN FUNCTION, not the physical structure of the organ. Chinese and Oriental medicine emphasizes the performance and functions of the organic structures.