What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world. As part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture aims to restore and maintain health through the stimulation of specific points on the body. In the United States, where practitioners incorporate healing traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries, acupuncture is considered part of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
(www.nih.gov/health/acupuncture)

The World Health Organization (WHO)  views acupuncture to be effective for these conditions:

Upper Respiratory Tract

• Acute sinusitis
• Acute rhinitis
• Common cold
• Acute tonsillitis

Respiratory System

• Acute bronchitis
• Bronchial asthma (most effective in children and in patients without complicating diseases)

Disorders of the Eye

• Acute conjunctivitis
• Central retinitis
• Myopia (in children)
• Cataract (without complications)

Disorders of the Mouth

• Toothache, post-extraction pain
• Gingivitis
• Acute and chronic pharyngitis

Gastro-intestinal Disorders

• Spasms of esophagus and cardia
• Hiccough
• Gastroptosis
• Acute and chronic gastritis
• Gastric hyperacidity
• Chronic duodenal ulcer (pain relief)
• Acute duodenal ulcer (without complications)
• Acute and chronic colitis
• Acute bacillary dysentery
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Paralytic ileus

Neurological and Musculo-skeletal Disorders

• Headache and migraine
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Facial palsy (early stage, i.e., within three to six months)
• Pareses following a stroke
• Peripheral neuropathies
• Sequelae of poliomyelitis (early stage, i.e., within six months)
• Meniere’s disease
• Neurogenic bladder dysfunction
• Nocturnal enuresis
• Intercostal neuralgia
• Cervicobrachial syndrome
• “Frozen shoulder,” “tennis elbow”
• Sciatica
• Low back pain
• Osteoarthritis

American Journal of Acupuncture, Vol. 8, No. 3, July-September 1980
Originally published in " World Health – The Magazine of the World Health Organization", December 1979.