History of Acupuncture Treatment

This is a guest post by Mr Miks Brauns.

Who invented acupuncture treatment and how did it become popular?

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medical science which has been used for treating different health problems for thousands of years, however, in Europe and USA it has been widely known only for the past few decades. Ever since the Western world has gotten familiar with this therapy, it has become more and more popular. It is believed that acupuncture can treat mental issues, different kinds of pain, infertility, nausea and even obesity. Even though there is not a lot of scientific evidence about the usefulness of acupuncture, many people use it and are happy with the results.

It may seem a little strange how it is possible to cure different health problems just by inserting a few needles in your body. How could anyone come up with such an idea and realise that it may work? Here are the answers to a few of those questions.

How old is acupuncture?
Acupuncture is a very old therapy, probably one of the oldest in the world and its concept is related to the Daoist philosophy. The Chinese started using acupuncture about 2500 years ago and even though this science has developed over time it is amazing that the basic acupuncture theory and practice has remained practically the same until this day.

How did the Chinese discover that some points on human body have therapeutic value?

It isn’t known how exactly the Chinese discovered the power of different points on human body but there are several theories. Some people believe that it was discovered because of the many wars that took place in ancient China – men who were injured in battles against other tribes felt that wounds in certain places of their bodies had a positive effect on some of their other health problems. Another theory suggests that the healing properties of different points were discovered because of the sparks flying out from a bonfire – people started to notice that some people got rid of their diseases when a spark landed on a certain point and caused a burn on it.

Who were the pioneers of acupuncture treatment?

The oldest known acupuncturists and books about acupuncture therapy are more than 2000 years old. A mythical historical figure called the Yellow Emperor is famous for participating in the creation of the oldest known book about acupuncture. Pien Chueh is another legendary acupuncturist who allegedly rescued the king’s son from dying by using acupuncture a few hundred years before Christ.

What was acupuncture treatment like back then?
As I already mentioned acupuncture hasn’t really changed much since the days of Pien Chueh and the Yellow Emperor. The whole process was quite similar to modern acupuncture and other therapies such as moxibustion and herbal medicine were already being used in combination with acupuncture therapy at the time. The needles, however, were different. The first acupuncture instruments were made out of stone but they weren’t really similar to needles. Only when people started using gold, silver and bronze it became possible to make true needles.

When did acupuncture treatment become popular in the West?
Some Europeans were already aware of what acupuncture is in the 17th and 18th centuries but it didn’t gain popularity back then probably because this therapy was a little too sophisticated for Westerners. Acupuncture became well-known there only after World War II but it got more popular very quickly and nowadays it is being widely practiced in different parts of the world.