Its significant rise in availability and popularity has coincided with increased interest in a number of so called 'complementary therapies' which mainly emanate from the Far East. Acupuncture is commonly considered by Western medical practitioners to have little more credibility than many other 'complementary therapies' and is often dismissed by them along with 'alternative' treatments with little or no history or proven efficacy. However, the rapid increase in acupuncture practitioners in the UK and the relatively high cost of this particular 'complementary therapy' suggests many people are convinced it should not be so readily dismissed as just another trendy and unproved form of medicine. One of these community based services, The Gateway Clinic, is within the National Health Service and provides treatment on a drop-in basis five days a week. In addition to this stress-management acupuncture this Service also offers Chinese Herbal medicine and full body acupuncture to those considered in need of these treatments.
Acupuncture is an extremely old Chinese mode of treatment now practised all across the globe.
It focuses on restricting the flow of energy in the body. By applying extremely thin needles at set places in the body, the equilibrium is restored. In 1972 Dr. H.L. Wen, a Hong Kong neurosurgeon, accidentally discovered the usefulness of acupuncture in treating drug addiction. He was treating a patient for a concussion. The patient was also known as an opium addict and Dr. Wen proposed a cingulutomy as treatment for the addiction.