Practitioners of acupuncture insert needles into the body at predetermined points. Often used as a way of promoting health as well as fighting disease, acupuncture s goal is to bring about a change in the medical condition or a change in the body itself. UVa currently offers patients acupuncture at the UVa Musculoskeletal Center. Bring up the subject of acupuncture with most people, however, and they immediately think of needles. Actually, explains Alfano, the patient hardly feels the needles at all - no more than a slight pinch.
Many patients even fall asleep during the treatment.
The needles, about three to four inches long, are sterile and disposable - used only once to avoid any chance of infection. Occasionally, the acupuncturist may stimulate the needle with a small electronic device, depending on the condition being treated. Treatments take approximately 20 minutes, but they can vary, again depending upon the patient s condition. Sometimes we see marked difference in only one treatment. How acupuncture actually works has been hard to determine.