But too much or too little energy flowing along the meridians was believed to create the imbalance that causes pain and illness. Each aspect of life, including health and disease, was understood in terms of two extremes that were manipulated by opposite natural forces. These forces are known as the yin, or dark female force, and the yang, or light male force. Illness was thought to result from a lack of balance or harmony between the opposing yin-yang energies. Acupuncture and all other traditional Chinese healing aim to re-balance these energies and thereby restore health.
Acupuncture is simple, and it often works.
It has few side effects or complications, and the cost is low. For these reasons, it can be a good choice for some problems that have no underlying cause which can be treated. Some people use acupuncture to decrease stress, although there are no research data to support the effectiveness of acupuncture for stress control. If it works for you, it hardly matters that we can't find qi or that skeptics think it's a placebo. However, it is important to remember that acupuncture does not cure diseases like cancer.