Acupuncture comes from two Latin words namely “acus” which means needle in English and “pungere” which means prick. Some of the techniques of acupuncture do not even use needles anymore. The history of acupuncture is first discussed in an ancient Chinese medical text called the “Huang Di Nei Jing” or The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine.

In the 17th century, a man by the name of Waichi Sugiyama wanted to make this procedure painless for the patient so he developed the insertion tube, a small cylindrical tube through which the needle is inserted. It was only in 1995 that the US Food and Drug Administration decided to classify the needles used for acupuncture as medical instruments and assured the public that they are both safe and effective.

To further promote acupuncture, the NIH or National Institute of Health in 1997 has stated that this technique is very useful in treating various health conditions. These include ear, nose, throat, respiratory, gastrointestinal, eye, nervous system and muscular disorders. In some cases, acupuncture is able to prevent some of them from happening.

This was further strengthened by the fact that the side effects of acupuncture are much less than that of conventional drugs that are being sold by pharmaceutical companies.

So that people can avail of acupuncture, another recommendation by the NIH is for US companies to provide full coverage for certain conditions. Some examples of these include addictions, autism, chronic low back pain, migraines and osteoarthritis of the knee.

If you look at the history of acupuncture, not much has changed since the needle technique used back then is still being used today.

You will find more on the history of acupuncture here