What’s in an Acupuncture Needle?

So what exactly is in those little needles that I stick into people?  This is actually a really common question patients ask me.  People want to know what can be making them feel so relaxed, or be making their pain go away.

Well there is no medicine, or even herbs in, or on an acupuncture needle.  In fact, the needles we use are so skinny it would be impossible to give an injection with them.  Modern acupuncture needles are super thin flexible, solid pieces of stainless steel with a small metal, or plastic handle that allows manipulation.  They bear no resemblance to a sewing needle and are a great deal thinner.

The medicine really come from within the patient.  Studies have shown that needling certain points cause the release of the bodies natural opiates.  Some within the field of Chinese Medicine feel that the energy referred to as “qi,” is electrical in nature, and that the highly conductive metal of the acupuncture needle helps this qi to circulate.

So what role does the doctor play in all this?  I like to think that the acupuncture needle serves as the meeting point between the energy of the healer, and that of the patient.  When this is in balance, who needs a drug substance?

If you have more questions on acupuncture, perhaps they can be answered here.