Acupuncture

This mini website provides an overview of acupuncture, along with news and a listing of acupuncture schools in the United States. Here you will also find a chat room about acupuncture and related topics. If you would like to be a acupuncture practitioner, then this site should provide a starting point for your assimilation of the information you need. The information provided here should be useful to not only the practitioner and potential practitioner of this ancient Chinese treatment, but to the potential patient as well.

Here we also provide an Alternative Medicine Book Store. Our book store not only includes books about acupuncture, but also a large assortment of books about other forms of alternative medicine.

What is acupuncture? Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique involving the insertion of fine needles just under the skin in specific locations in order to relieve pain and treat a wide variety of ailments. In the United States it is used most often for the treatment of various types of pain. But it is used also for other ailments such as digestive disorders, respiratory disorders, neurological disorders, and urinary, menstrual, and reproductive problems.

Acupuncture has steadily grown in popularity in Western societies, and only relatively recently has it been accepted as a viable form of alternative medicine. In the past two decades, acupuncture has increased in popularity within the United States. Acupuncture originated in China more than 2,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest medical procedures in the world.

Does acupuncture work? Yes, acupuncture does work. If it did not work, it would not be part of Traditional Chinese Medicine within China for so long. An even greater question is, how does acupuncture work?

How acupuncture works can be explained in two ways. One is the Chinese form of explanation and the other is the Western, scientific explanation.

The non-scientific Chinese explanation is as follows. The Chinese believe that channels of energy run in regular patterns through the body. These channels are like small streams or rivers and they are called meridians. For proper health, energy which is called Qi and pronounced as chi, must flow through these meridians. Improper health takes place when these meridians are blocked or disrupted. When there is improper health, pain exists. By placing needles at the acupuncture points, this influences the meridians and decreases the blockages and disruptions that exist. When energy flows through the meridians like it should, this helps the body’s internal organs to correct imbalances which results in healing and pain reduction.

For someone who is trained in Western medicine, has an understanding of human biology, and views all organisms from a scientific perspective, this explanation is very hard to relate to. To a Western doctor or scientist, this explanation is more philosophical then scientific. Simply put, Traditional Chinese Medicine, for thousands of years, has had a perspective about how the human body works which is different from how doctors and scientists within Western societies view the human body. So what is the scientific explanation of how acupuncture works.

Lets look at the official explanation from the Academy of Medical Acupuncture. They state that the scientific explanation of acupuncture is that by placing needles at specific acupuncture points, this stimulates the nervous system to release chemicals in the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. The release of these chemicals some how stimulates the body to heal and results in a reduction of pain.

As you can see, the scientific explanation of how acupuncture works is not much better then the Chinese explanation. The point is we really do not have a full understanding of how acupuncture works. It is currently an area of ongoing research. To examine the different avenues of current acupuncture research is outside the purview of this article. What we do know is that it does indeed work for certain conditions and pain situations. This is why Western medicine has accepted it as an alternative form of treatment for certain conditions.

There are currently 46 acupuncture schools in the United States. Because there is no clear explanation as to how acupuncture works, different schools provide different types of training based on their own understanding of acupuncture. There are two basic methods of teaching acupuncture. Some schools teach the 5-element style and others teach the more familiar Traditional Chinese Medicine Style (TCM style). A greater percentage of acupuncture schools teach the TCM style. TCM style of acupuncture is by far the most common method of acupuncture practiced in North America today.

The following schools, within the United States, provide training and certification to be a acupuncture practitioner:

Acupuncture - Schools in the United States

Arizona

Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine - Tucson | (520) 795-0787
Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture - Phoenix | (602) 274-1885
RainStar University - Scottsdale | (888) RainStar
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine - Tempe | (480) 858-9100

California

Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College, Berkeley - Berkeley | (510) 666-8248
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine - San Francisco | (415) 282-7600
Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine - Santa Monica | (310) 453-8300 x106
Kyung San University - Garden Grove | (714) 636-0337
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine - San Diego | (619) 574-6909
Samra University of Oriental Medicine - Los Angeles | (310) 202-6444
South Baylo University - Anaheim | (714) 533-1495
South Baylo University - Los Angeles | (213) 738-0712
Southern California University of Health Sciences - Whittier | (562) 947-8755
Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Los Angeles | (310) 577-3000

Colorado

Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Denver | (303) 329-6355
Southwest Acupuncture College - Boulder | (303) 581-9955

Florida

Academy for Five Element Acupuncture - Hallandale | (954) 456-6336 |
Acupuncture & Massage College - Miami | (305) 595-9500 |
Atlantic Institute of Oriental Medicine - Fort Lauderdale | (954) 763-9840
Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine - Gainesville | (352) 371-2833 |
East West College of Natural Medicine - Sarasota | (941) 355-9080

Georgia

Edgewood College of Georgia, School of Oriental Medicine - Norcross | (770) 234-0733

Hawaii

Institute of Clinical Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine - Honolulu | (808) 521-2288
Traditional Chinese Medical College - Kamuela | (808) 885-9226
World Medicine Institute, College of Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine - Honolulu | (808) 949-1050

Illinois

Midwest College of Oriental Medicine - Chicago | (773) 975-1295
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine - Chicago | (773) 477-4822

Indiana

Blue Heron Academy - South Bend | (888) 285-9989

Massachusetts

New England School of Acupuncture - Watertown | (617) 926-1788

Michigan

Blue Heron Academy - Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Muskegon, Traverse City, Troy | (888) 285-9989

Minnesota

American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine - Roseville | (651) 631-0204

New Jersey

Eastern School of Acupuncture - Montclair | (973) 746-8717

New Mexico

Southwest Acupuncture College - Albuquerque | (505) 888-8898
Southwest Acupuncture College - Santa Fe | (505) 438-8884

New York

Tri-State College of Acupuncture - New York | (212) 242-2255
New York Chiropractic College - Seneca Falls | (800) 234-6922
New York College of Health Professions - Brooklyn, Syosset | (800) 922-7337
Pacific College of Oriental Medicine - New York | (212) 982-3456
Swedish Institute, College of Health Sciences - New York | (212) 924-5900

Ohio

American Institute of Alternative Medicine - Columbus | (614) 825-6278

Oregon

National College of Naturopathic Medicine - Portland | (503) 552-1555
Oregon College of Oriental Medicine - Portland | (503) 253-3443

Texas

Academy of Oriental Medicine at Austin - Austin | (800) 824-9987 ext. 217 |
American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine - Houston | (800) 729-4456
Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Austin | (800) 252-5088

Wisconsin

Midwest College of Oriental Medicine - Racine | (262) 554-2010

If you are the owner of a school which provides acupuncture certification, you have a website, and you are not on the above list, please go to our “about” page and send an email with your URL, name of school, and phone number of school, and we will include you on the above list.

Acupuncture - Conclusion

We have provided some information about acupuncture, and a listing of schools within the United States which provide training for certification to become a acupuncture practitioner. Acupuncture is a relatively new form of therapy to Western medicine, but has existed in Chinese culture for thousands of years. It is effective for certain conditions, and yet we do not fully understand the mechanism by which it works.