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Acupuncture is among the most common therapies in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The healing practice, which involves the insertion of thin needles into the skin, is primarily used to relieve pain but is also used to help prevent and treat other conditions.“When we insert needles into specific points on the body called acupoints, we send a message to the body to ‘rebalance’ the flow of energy,” says Michelle Zhang, a TCM practitioner from Balanced Health in Hong Kong.These points serve as a communication pathway. “The energy, commonly known as qi, should flow freely and unobstructed. If there are blockages in this flow, illness may arise. By re-establishing good energy flow, the body can start to heal itself and your health will be restored.”Acupuncture – then and nowAcupuncture was mentioned in an ancient Chinese medical text known as the Huangdi Neijing (the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor), which dates back to about 100BC.This text, which describes an organised system of diagnosing and treating disease, also recorded the use of massage techniques, herbal medicine and qigong – a traditional Chinese exercise that involves breathwork and meditation.The concept of channels through which qi flows was already well-established at this time, Zhang says. The location of acupuncture points throughout the…