Our Acupuncture Main Article provides a comprehensive look at
the who, what, when and how of Acupuncture Definition of
Acupuncture Acupuncture: The practice of inserting needles into
the body to reduce pain or induce anesthesia. More broadly,
acupuncture is a family of procedures involving the stimulation
of anatomical locations on or in the skin by a variety of
techniques. There are a number of different approaches to
diagnosis and treatment in American acupuncture that incorporate
medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other
countries. The most thoroughly studied mechanism of stimulation
of acupuncture points employs penetration of the skin by thin,
solid, metallic needles, which are manipulated manually or by
electrical stimulation. Among the conditions for which
acupuncture has been found to be useful is headache. Acupuncture
reportedly leads to persisting, clinically relevant benefits for
patients with chronic headache, particularly migraine. The
National Institutes of Health (NIH) has issued a