When thinking of pain relief, most don’t imagine getting poked and pricked with needles or sucked by hot cups. However, these are just two forms of the pain-relieving treatment of acupuncture that many professionals have studied and practiced for years.

Acupuncture originates from China and has been practiced there for thousands of years. It began to spread rapidly into the United States during the second half of the twentieth century.

“Acupuncture is a way of restoring general wellness and reducing pain,” said Bruce McCrea of Greenville Pain Relief and Prevention Center.

The most well known form of acupuncture is the insertion of very small, thin needles into the patient’s skin. This method can be used for all sorts of pain but McCrea said he finds many patients use it as a way to cure migraines. Depending on the patient’s condition, the doctor can determine which points on the body will be inserted with the needles. For instance, if a patient wants to try to use acupuncture as a way to cure their migraines, the needles would be inserted into pressure points in either the lower palm or back of the neck. 

“The process is not painful, if anything you just feel a pricking sensation,” said McCrea. “If the pricking sensation lasts for longer than a second I take it out, but usually that doesn’t happen.”

There are several other methods for the procedure. One of them is called cupping, which involves glass cups that are heated and put on the patient’s skin, creating a vacuum. Cupping is found to be quite useful in treating bronchitis and Fibrositis. Other methods include electric acupuncture and even the use of magnets. Typically, if the patient is not seeing results in short time frame, the acupuncture technique is probably not suitable for them.

“One of my rules in my office is you should be improving every two weeks,” McCrea said.

From addictions, such as cigarette smoking, to respiratory disorders, to simple body aches or headaches, acupuncture can treat a wide variety of ailments. Many people try acupuncture as a "last resort" for serious medical problems and find that it can help them when other treatments could not. Patients will often use acupuncture to maintain general health as well.

A license in acupuncture is not an easy thing to get and Melanie Campbell, an acupuncturist from Columbus, Ohio, knows just that. “An acupuncturist goes through a minimum of 27 months of training (master’s program),” said Campbell. “In addition to classroom hours, acupuncturists must treat a minimum of 250 patients and have a certain number of clinical hours.”

For many people, hearing someone say that they are an acupuncturist for a living may be kind of surprising as it is not your everyday occupation. However, it is something that definitely seems to intrigue people because of its uniqueness.

“There are lots of favorite things about my job and if I had to pick one it would be the community and relationships that I have with my patients,” said Meaghan Massella, an acupuncturist from Edgewater, Md. “ I wouldn't have met most of these fabulous people any other way and they continually inspire and amaze me. Being able to help them in even a small way makes me feel awesome.”

Lisa Schlegel, an acupuncturist from San Antonio, Texas, has the same passion for what she does. “For me, the joy of being an acupuncturist is in seeing a person who has come to my clinic in pain suddenly become pain free. The body is an amazing healer, and I’m in awe of it each and every day.”