Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is 5000 years old. Western Medicine is only 200 years old. The Chinese had a very long time to figure out how different points on the body when stimulated, can work together and treat affected areas. Chinese medicine is written in ancient Chinese languages, and translated in different ways, but you can think of terms like channels, collaterals and meridians, as related to the Western anatomical terms of lymphatic, circulatory, endocrine or nervous system. The Chinese just used different language to interpret these phenomena. The media has been known to paint Traditional Chinese Medicine as esoteric, metaphysical, pseudo-science. But nothing is more far from the truth. Through research, we have found acupuncture does these main things to the body: It relieves pain It reduces inflammation It promotes blood flow and restores homeostasis