acupuncture

n. An ancient Chinese technique of inserting very thin metal needles into the body at precise points to alter the flow of spiritual or biological energies in the body in order to block pain or to produce better health. In traditional Chinese medicine there is a complex system of energy channels or meridians in the body with connections to all the organs. By inserting needles and heating or twisting them, the energy flow along the meridians is affected. Acupuncture has been recognized by Euro-American medicine as having significant pain reducing properties, but other claims have been less substantiated, in part because Euro-American medicine and traditional Chinese medicine have very different ideas of what constitutes good health and different conceptions of the mechanisms by which the body functions.