Acupuncture is ancient Chinese medicine dating back almost 2,500 years ago. It's based on yin and yang, the balance within the body. Just as medical doctors view the body as a system made up of veins and arteries, oxygen and blood, an acupuncturist considers it an arrangement of channels, or meridians, where life energy, or qi, flows. When qi, blood, yin or yang is disrupted or compromised, the body becomes imbalanced and illness or pain can occur. The insertion of thin needles (about the thickness of a single human hair) at distinct points along these meridians can stimulate the qi, blood, yin or yang and lessen symptoms, many times eliminating the condition altogether.