If you decide to try acupuncture for pain relief, and we are not specifically recommending it here, you should take care in choosing a practitioner. There is a problem of poorly trained and not very ethical acupuncturists. State laws vary with recognition of acupuncturists. You'll have to check with either a local medical society or the state board of medical examiners. In general, you're acting on faith alone.
Cleanliness is always of concern when there is an invasive procedure of any kind.
In this age of AIDS it becomes a matter of life and death. The needles do pierce the skin, and you should allow only disposable needles to be used in acupuncture. Hepatitis has been transmitted in a few rare cases by improperly sterilized acupuncture needles. All your questions should be answered clearly, and you should understand what will be done and what the treatment offers. This technique is similar to acupuncture, but it uses fingertip pressure rather than needles.