Acupuncture, as we know it in the United States, is actually a mixture of herbology, acupuncture and other healing arts. Your practitioner may or may not use needles, herbs, magnets, crystals or his or her own Qi. Each of these modalities has its own rich tradition and it is not necessary for a practitioner to use all of them. Acupuncture itself is the placing of very thin stainless steel needles into appropriate points around the body. We cannot say that this is always painless but it is certainly less than the hypodermic syringes we are all afraid of.
Any pain usually dissipates within a few seconds.
In its place may be a distending or slight heat sensation. The needles may go in the abdomen, arms or legs, head or in the ears. There are two notable recent offshoots of traditional acupuncture. Ear acupuncture says that all the organ functions can be seen in the ear. Even smaller needles are precisely placed in different sections of the ear for treatment.