Acupuncture(in Chinese Pinyin is Zhen Jiu) is one of the Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Acupuncture is over 5,000 years old. It was not just practiced in China. The Egyptians talked about vessels that resembled the 12 meridians in 1550 B.C..Acupuncture can be tranced back as far as the Stone Age in China, when stone knives and pointed rocks were used to relieve pain and diseases. These instruments were known by the ancients as "bian." In the Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) an Analytical Dictionary of Characters "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" describes the character "bian" as meaning a stone to treat disease. Later these stones were replaced by needles made of bamboo and slivers of animal bone, then finally in the Shang Dynasty bronze casting techniques made metal needles possible, which conducted electricity (and qi). This led to the mapping of the meridian system or "channels" of energy within the body.
Acupuncture is a procedure using very thin needles to stimulate the meridians (certain points in the body that balance and restore the energy flow through the body). By contacting specific skin meridians acupuncture can treat the blockages in the skin that cause acne.
Another theory as to why acupuncture can help relieve acne is because acupuncture is also known to help with depression. Mood is one of the causes of acne. Therefore, if you are depressed or stressed it is very possible that your skin will break out. If acupuncture works to lift the mood, the acne will most likely subside as well.
Acupuncture is a positive remedy for acne because it has been shown to work. It can be costly, but is beneficial for those acne patients who do not want to take medications or have laser treatments. Topical creams along with medication can have negative side effects - which acupuncture does not. There is little to no pain associated with acupuncture for acne.
Acupuncture is continuing to be researched, but with the studies already conducted, the outlook for acupuncture being a common therapy for acne is very positive.
