Acupuncture is an age-old practice that is a useful treatment for many medical conditions.
It can be offered in a primary care practice and is suitable as an adjunct therapy to many acute and chronic conditions seen by the family physician. This is a narrative by a boarded family physician who has studied and practiced acupuncture within the contexts of suburban, rural and academic primary care practices since 1988. The paper gives personal perspectives as well as broad clinical experiences in integrating a non-conventional treatment, acupuncture, into a family practice setting. Pertinent literature is surveyed. This overview explains acupuncture's theoretical mechanisms of action and describes its clinical indications and application.