Our bodies are supposed to be self-regulating. That’s why we can live for 80 or 90 years, in spite of all the crazy things we do and all the various awful things that happen to us. Pain and sickness will always come and go, but pain should not be a constant feature of life.

If you smash your thumb with a hammer, it’s going to be swollen and hurt for a while. But if it still hurts and is swollen a month later, something is wrong. Something in your body is not doing its job, and at some point, just waiting for a problem to get better is not a good plan. Fortunately, all problems really do have solutions. Even yours.

Chinese Medicine’s specialty is zeroing in on which system(s) in your body are not operating efficiently. Keeping you healthy is ultimately your body’s own job, but acupuncture is one good way of getting it back on track when things go awry.

According to the wisdom of Chinese Medicine, your body comes with a system of energy pathways that connect each of the internal organs to predictable areas close to the surface of the body. These are called “meridians” or “channels,” and along these is where acupuncturists find most of the acupuncture points. While Western Medicine is well acquainted with the pathways of the nerves and the blood vessels, these “meridians” are a more subtle circulatory system which is not part of the Western medical model.

When your body doesn’t resolve problems and they become chronic, this means that something has gone wrong: Either one or more of your organs is not doing its job efficiently, or there’s a blockage in one or more of the meridians, keeping the healing energy from those organs from getting to where it’s needed. Through observation, consideration of your symptoms, and perhaps carefully feeling your pulse and looking at your tongue, a skilled acupuncturist can determine where to put needles to readjust the flow of energy through your meridians, and assist your body to return to its normal ability to self-regulate and heal itself.