Acupuncture (from Lat. acus, "needle" (noun), and pungere, "prick" (verb) or in Standard Mandarin, zhēn jǐu (針灸) is one of the main branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM (others being herbal medicine and tui na). It is a therapeutic technique from that framework intended to restore health and well-being. The term acupuncture is often used by Westerners to refer to Chinese medicine generally. The technique involves the insertion of needles into "acupuncture points" on the body by trained practitioners. The needles most commonly used in present-day practice are made of stainless steel and are of approximately the same diameter as a medium thickness guitar string (from approximately .01" to .02"). Acupuncture and related practices predate modern concepts of science, and some but not all of its traditional indications have been verified in modern studies and clinical practice.
