Acupuncture is a process of placing needles along the meridians of the body and releases the blockages that cause pain. I have used it and it has worked for me.

Yes it does ! At least it did help me. It's important to find a good Doctor of Acupuncture. It's just like anything else. There are good ones and bad ones out there. I was lucky enough to find a woman who was a professor of acupuncture in China and she now has a practice in North Texas .

Yes ... so does acupressure massage therapy ... I have enough skill at acupressure massage that I teach it ... click my avatar and read my profile ...

It's great for pain. There are dentists that use it instead of Novocaine and some doctors use it instead of anesthesia

Yes, in some cases. But the person doing it must also do it the right way! 1) "In a separate study, doctors at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey have shown that acupuncture can relieve pain. The scientists induced pain in 12 subjects by using a filament to touch their upper lips. They then detected the associated increases in brain activity with a magnetic resonance imaging device. As the subjects' pain was relieved with acupuncture needles placed between thumb and forefinger, scans showed activity diminished in up to 70% of the brain. Images taken of their brains showed the activity diminishing in up to 70%. Study co-author Huey-Jen Lee said: "So many people with pain, whether from cancer, headache or a chronic, unexplained condition, rely on medications, such as morphine, which can become addicting. "Acupuncture has no side effects, and other studies have shown the pain relief it provides can last for months."" Source and further information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/545019.stm 2) "The effectiveness of acupuncture remains controversial in the scientific community, according to a review by Edzard Ernst and colleagues in 2007, which found that the body of evidence was growing, research is active, and that the "emerging clinical evidence seems to imply that acupuncture is effective for some but not all conditions". Researchers using the protocols of evidence-based medicine have found good evidence that acupuncture is moderately effective in preventing nausea. There is conflicting evidence that it can treat chronic low back pain, and moderate evidence of efficacy for neck pain and headache. For most other conditions reviewers have found either a lack of efficacy (e.g., help in quitting smoking) or have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to determine whether acupuncture is effective (e.g., treating shoulder pain). While little is known about the mechanisms by which acupuncture may act, a review of neuroimaging research suggests that specific acupuncture points have distinct effects on cerebral activity in specific areas that are not otherwise predictable anatomically." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture 3) "Western medicine likes to define exactly how things work, and they've tried hard to come up with scientific explanations for the effectiveness of acupuncture as Western scientists don't subscribe to the Chinese acupuncture theory of energy flows. It hasn't been easy, but some researchers suggest the needles stimulate the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers. Others say it affects the release of natural relaxants like serotonin. While a third theory suggests it improves circulation by dilating blood vessels." Source and further information: http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=118613 4) "From a western perspective acupuncture increases blood flow to speed healing, and stimulates hormonal changes such as increasing the bodies natural pain modulators (endorphins). Patients who receive Naloxone (an anecdote to morphine like drugs) do not respond to acupuncture’s pain-reducing effects." Source and further information: http://acupuncturedoc.com/acupuncture.htm

Both Acupressure and Acupuncture helps in reducing pain. In most cases pain is overcome completely.

While there are a variety of modern scientific explanations for the effects of acupuncture, most of them fail to account for all observed effects. The most common explanations is that the needle insertion causes a small trauma, instigating a tissue healing response that involves a variety of chemical changes in the body. Others believe that the effects of acupuncture are related to a nervous system reaction to the stimulation of the needles on local cutaneous nerves. However, your question may also be, how does acupuncture work from the context of Oriental Medicine? To answer this, you must examine the complex network of meridians that are used in acupuncture treatment. Meridians are energy pathyways that connect the internal organs and the surface of the body to form a matrix of connections. By adjusting the flow of energy within a specific meridian you can alter the functioning of an internal organ, or the flow of energy in another meridian. These adjustments can help to resolve disease, including pain, immune weakness, organ function, fertility, and many more health conditions. By understanding the specific pathways of these meridians and the major nodes, or acupuncture points, the effects of stimulating specific points can begin to make sense. Read this article on altMD.com for more detailed information on acupuncture meridians and points: http://www.altmd.com/Articles/Acupuncture-Points

Not sure how it works. But I do know this.. After my knee surgery the physiotherapist used acupuncture on my knee and it worked for me.