If you’re an acupuncture enthusiast, or even just someone who’s casually interested in the art of acupuncture, here are a few facts you’ll definitely find fascinating.
Early Acupuncture Needles Were Made Out of Fascinating Materials. – The earliest acupuncture devices were made out of stone, but they weren’t necessarily needles. Rather, they were used to just press on the points, versus actually penetrating them. People started using needles as early as 600 A.D., which what the oldest acupuncture needles made of bronze, copper, tin, gold, and silver date back to. It wasn’t until the fourth century A.D. that people began using steel.
Acupuncture Focuses on Certain Parts of the Body. – Nowadays, acupuncture clinics use FDA-approved, metallic needles on the body’s some 2,000 points, which are connected via 20 different pathways. Practitioners will place as many as one to 20 needles into the body, and leave them there for about 15 to 30 minutes. What’s interesting, though, is that studies have found that these points have significantly more electrical conductivity than other areas without acupuncture points.
There Are Two Theories on Why It Works. – There are two theories as to why acupuncture actually works. The first is that the needles send impulses that travel faster than the pain impulses, and consequently block them out, which is how acupuncture clinics help relieve pain. The second is that the needles release endorphins into the bloodstream, which alleviate pain.
It’s Quite Popular in the West. – Acupuncture clinics are popping up all over the United States and the United Kingdom. About a million Americans use acupuncture nowadays, and in the UK, about 47% of general practitioners refer their patients to acupuncture clinics.
These are just a few of the most fascinating acupuncture facts. If you’d like to know more about acupuncture benefits, feel free to share in the comments.
