Debate over the proper governmental regulation of these treatments and their practitioners is central to the issue today. More on this topic later. Let's first take a look at the basic premise of these three treatments. Acupuncture is a treatment method that many of us are superficially familiar with. With its historical significance within Chinese culture, acupuncture has many devoted practitioners.
Acupuncture involves the stimulation of various points of the body by the insertion of thin needles.
Acupuncture is used for relief of chronic pain, as well as to treat numerous medical conditions. Indeed, many acupuncturists believe that they can influence and modulate virtually any disease process with proper manipulation of the acupuncture points. The central theory of chiropractic holds that all disease conditions stem from abnormal functioning of the nervous system. Chiropractors attempt to intervene in the disease process through manipulation of the vertebral column and other skeletal joints. Some chiropractors limit themselves to treatment of pain, while others believe that all maladies can and do respond to chiropractic manipulation.