Acupuncture has been practiced in China for more than 4000 years. However, for most modern Americans they will "start" the history of acupuncture in 1972 when then President Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry A. Kissinger, traveled to China accompanied by a journalist for the New York Times. While in China the journalist, named James Reston, fell ill and ended up in a Chinese hospital requiring an emergency appendectomy. To relieve his pain doctors used acupuncture. Intrigued and impressed with the effectiveness of his experience with acupuncture, James Reston wrote about his hospitalization and acupuncture treatment in the New York Times, exposing countless Americans for the first time to acupuncture.

Acupuncture uses natural energetic laws with the application of needles and pressure to the specific points on the body. These points are grouped along specific pathways or "meridians" across the body. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), as long as the vital energy or Qi (pronounce "Chi") flows freely through these pathways, health is maintained. When the flow of energy is either absent, deficient, interrupted, excessive or blocked in an area, health is disrupted, resulting in illness or pain. By stimulating appropriate acupoints along these meridians, the energy is released and regulated, and therefore the health and balance is restored. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies over 50 conditions treated successfully with acupuncture.

Acupuncture has been shown to relieve pains and stimulate the immune system. It also affects the circulation, blood pressure, rhythm and stroke volume of the heart, secretion of the gastric acid, and production of red and white cells. It also stimulates the release of a variety of hormones that help body to respond to injury and stress.