There is an eastern and western description of Acupuncture.
Eastern
Life force is what people see when they look at an animal and know it is living … contrasted to a stone. Anyway, this motivating force is called Chi or Qi (chee) and in traditional Chinese medicine, is the focus of acupuncturists. Thousands of years ago, acupuncturists needed a system to understand health and how to diagnose problems and so described paths in the body where Chi flows. They documented points on the body where chi was prominent and then connected them with lines. These lines are called meridans.
Traditional Chinese medicine and diagnosis (TCM) first looks for patterns of health … called patterns of disharmony. Perhaps the skin or tongue has an odd color and digestion is bad. The, using a system of “organs” they seek an imbalance between the organs and devise a strategy to increase chi flow between the organs using the meridins and acupuncture needles to do so.
Organs is TCM: These are not the same as what we now know as organs. Many have the same name but are fundamentally different. An organ is an area of body function in TCM and not a physical, functional body part.
Western
There are no lines, no meridans, and science has never measured them. There are however points in the muscles and faschia that are more receptive to stimulation. We all have felt them before … highly sensitive spots in the body. These points are only connected through normal body mechanisms like muscles, nerves and circulation. However, treating these points does have an effect on the body. It increases circulation, releases opiates, reduces tension and draws mental attention to them.
The Western-Eastern approach…
Trigger point Acupuncture take the best of both worlds and treats constricted muscles close or related to the physical pain and evokes involuntary twitching until the offending muscle tires and releases the tension being placed on th epain-inducing area.