 I'm Dr. Judson Chaney and I'm the acupuncturist here on staff at Meridian Integrative Health and Medicine. Acupuncture is a medical art and practice that's been practiced for over 2,500 years. It has a history dating all the way back to China, but it's practiced throughout the world today. At a fundamental level, acupuncture is the insertion of tiny, fine needles and very specific points in the body, those are called acupuncture points. By inserting a needle onto these points, we can cause a therapeutic effect. In over thousands of years of trial, error and observation and empirically recording what that does, we've handed down what points are good for what condition. Most people, when they want to know what acupuncture feels like, want to know does it hurt. A patient can feel a number of sensations that aren't unpleasant, but they do notice a sensation. That sensation can be warmth, tingling, pressure, dull achy sensation, and that's not a bad thing. When we're talking about who can benefit from acupuncture, my first answer is just about anyone can benefit from acupuncture. It can treat a wide variety of conditions, and certainly I would recommend people look at the World Health Organization and their recommendation and study on acupuncture and its different uses. I think that they'll find that there's a lot more things that acupuncture can treat effectively than we automatically assume. The first thing that comes out in most people's minds when it comes to acupuncture, especially in America, is the treatment of pain. And certainly that in itself is enough. Anything from arthritis to spinal, back, neck pain, it doesn't have to be chronic pain. It can be an acute pain as well. Other than that, there's a number of other conditions that acupuncture can help too. It can help the digestive system. It's useful for women's reproductive issues, whether it's fertility or dysmenorrhea. Acupuncture has been shown to be very useful for patients undergoing chemotherapy, both during chemotherapy, radiation surgery for cancer-related illnesses, and then also in the remission process as well. Acupuncture fits very well into the integrated model because it's a drug-free therapy, so there are no drug interactions involved with it. It's very safe. The risk of serious side-effect from acupuncture is very, very low. And it's gentle. As part of a treatment plan, whether it's for pain or another condition as well, it can be sometimes a very useful ally in helping to heal from that, and sometimes it can be the tipping point to help move people in the right direction.