Mr. Cho was worried. Something was wrong with his goldfish. They had red patches on their skin, they weren’t eating, and they didn’t have much energy. Mr. Cho thought the fish probably had an infection. To cure the infection, he stuck needles into the backs of the fish. That may seem unusual to some people, but it didn’t seem unusual to Mr. Cho. Mr. Cho is an acupuncturist—a person who uses needles to treat illness and pain.
Mr. Cho left the needles in the fish for several minutes and then took them out. During the next few days, he repeated the treatments. Soon the fish began to feel better. They swam with more energy and started to eat again, and the red patches on their skin disappeared. Did the fish get better because of the acupuncture treatments? Mr. Cho thinks so.
Although acupuncture for goldfish is uncommon, acupuncture for people is very common in Asia. Acupuncturists there help people who have medical problems such as infections, backaches, and stomachaches. They even use acupuncture during operations so that patients won’t feel pain.
To see what happens during an acupuncture treatment, let’s imagine that Ming, a man who often has headaches, decides to go to Dr. Han, an acupuncturist. This is what might happen at Dr. Han’s office.
First, Dr. Han examines Ming and asks him about his headaches. There are many kinds of headaches, and Dr. Han needs to know what kind of headaches Ming has.
Then Dr. Han decides where to insert the needles. Ming is surprised when Dr. Han tells him that she will insert needles in his neck and foot, but none in his head. That is not unusual. Often acupuncture needles are not inserted in the place where the patient feels pain.
Next, Dr. Han chooses the needles, which range in size from ½-inch long to 6 inches. Dr. Han chooses 1-inch needles for Ming and begins to insert them. Ming feels a little pinch when each needle goes in. That is not unusual either. Some patients say it hurts a little when the needles go in; other patients say it doesn’t hurt at all. The needles stay in place for fifteen minutes. Then Dr. Han removes them. Before he goes home, Ming makes an appointment to see Dr. Han in a week. Dr. Han says that Ming will know in a few weeks if the treatments are working.
How does acupuncture work? An ancient explanation from China says that energy flows through the body. Too much—or too little—energy in one part causes pain or sickness. Several hundred places on the body, called acupuncture points, can change the flow. A needle in a point on the leg, for example, could change the flow of energy to the stomach.
Modern explanations focus on the nervous system. Scientists point out that acupuncture points have many more nerve endings than other places on the skin. Nerve endings receive pain messages when someone is sick or hurt, and those messages travel through the nerves. Perhaps acupuncture sends new messages that interrupt the pain messages before they reach the brain. Or perhaps the numb feeling some patients experience after acupuncture is simply the body’s normal reaction to a tiny injury.
People who have been helped by acupuncture probably don’t care which explanation is correct. They are just happy to be like Mr. Cho’s fish—healthy again.