What is electroacupuncture?
Acupuncture works because the needle sort of “wakes up” the qi and stimulates it to do something different. For most of history, the only way to make sure the needle was doing its stimulating job was by manually twirling or scraping or otherwise manipulating the needle until the patient reported the arrival of the qi sensation. One way around this manual stimulation is the application of electrical currents that constantly stimulate the needle. The needles are attached by clips and wires to small battery-powered boxes that deliver a rhythmic stimulation to the needle. The sensation is similar to a gentle tapping by raindrops, and is very relaxing and soothing. This adaption to acupuncture is called electroacupuncture. A much more recent technological addition to point stimulation is one that uses laser pointers to stimulate the points, bypassing the needle process altogether. This form of acupuncture is quite new, and only a few practitioners are currently trained in it.
