# Acupuncture Source: https://spiritfold.com/Acupuncture Published by the Australian Spiritual Alliance on Spiritfold, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. **Acupuncture** is a technique in which a practitioner inserts fine needles into the skin, and it comes from traditional Chinese medicine.[1] In Australia it is part of a regulated health profession: *acupuncturist* is a protected title under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. Only people registered with the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia, or practitioners of another registered profession who hold an acupuncture endorsement, may use it.[2] ## Description ### How practitioners explain it In traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture points are understood to form energy pathways known as **meridians**, and acupuncture is said to clear blockages so that energy can flow normally through the body. It is described as a holistic therapy because it links body, mind and emotions.[3] The Victorian Government's Better Health Channel describes the aim as restoring the natural balance of energy in the body so that the body can look after itself.[4] ### How science explains it Scientists don't yet fully understand how acupuncture works. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) reports evidence that it may act on the nervous system and on the tissues where needles are placed. It also has nonspecific (placebo) effects, which may come from the patient's expectations or the relationship with the practitioner.[1] ### A session The practitioner first asks about the person's health problem, medical history, medicines, diet, lifestyle and sleep, and may check for tender spots and range of movement. A Chinese medicine practitioner will also look at the tongue and feel the pulse at the wrist. Needles, much finer than those used for blood tests, are then placed at the chosen points and usually left in for 25 to 35 minutes. The practitioner may stimulate them by pushing or twisting them, or with a device that sends a small electric pulse. A course of treatment can range from one to 20 sessions.[3] Stimulating the needles with small electric currents is called **electroacupuncture**.[1] People may feel tingling, warmth or heaviness where a needle goes in, or nothing at all.[4] Some feel soreness, numbness or fullness, and many feel calm and relaxed afterwards.[3] ### Variations and related techniques Some practitioners use lasers rather than needles to stimulate acupuncture points.[3] **Auricular acupuncture** works on particular areas of the ear.[1] Better Health notes that an acupuncturist may also use cupping, Chinese herbs, TCM remedial massage on acupuncture points or meridians, and **moxibustion**, in which herbs are burnt over or on acupuncture points.[4] ## Scope ### What it includes - Inserting fine needles at acupuncture points, with manual or electrical stimulation[1][3] - Stimulating points without needles, for example with a laser[3] - Related practices covered by the Chinese Medicine Board's infection control guidelines: moxibustion, cupping, laser acupuncture, gua sha and dermal hammering[5] ### What it is not - **It is not dry needling.** Dry needling also uses fine needles, but works on points in the muscles and is most often used by physiotherapists, osteopaths and chiropractors.[3] - **It is not Chinese herbal medicine.** Registration as an acupuncturist does not make someone a registered Chinese herbal medicine practitioner. The Board says acupuncturists who give advice about herbs must make clear that they are registered only in the acupuncture division, and should refer patients who need a qualified herbal practitioner.[6] - **It is not a substitute for medical care.** It is not a reason to put off seeing a doctor about a health problem, or to delay or stop medical treatment.[1][3] - **Evidence:** NCCIH reports research showing that acupuncture may help some kinds of pain, including back or neck pain, knee pain from osteoarthritis and pain after surgery. It has been studied for at least 50 other health problems, with some evidence that it may ease seasonal allergy symptoms, stress incontinence in women, and nausea and vomiting linked to cancer treatment. In many studies acupuncture did better against no treatment than against sham acupuncture, which suggests that nonspecific effects account for part of its benefit.[1] ## Traditions and lineage Acupuncture began in China more than 2,000 years ago;[3] NCCIH says it has been used in some form for at least 2,500 years. It grew in popularity around the world from the 1970s, and according to the World Health Organization it is used in 103 of the 129 countries that reported data.[1] ## Context ### Within Spiritualism Spiritfold has found acupuncture only at the edges of Spiritualist education. The 2001 edition of the *Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology* described the courses at Arthur Findlay College, the Spiritualists' National Union's residential college in Essex, England, as including acupuncture alongside subjects directly related to Spiritualism, such as mediumship.[7] That description is historical and should not be taken as the college's current programme.[7] ### In Australian Spiritualism In his 1981 study of Sydney Spiritualists, Paul Gillen noted that one of the mediums who served the city's churches on a circuit was a former acupuncturist. He also recorded that Spiritualists did not see spiritual healing as incompatible with other treatments, including orthodox medicine.[8] ### A Spiritualist perspective As the Context above shows, acupuncture has turned up at the edges of Spiritualist life, in college courses and in the earlier working life of at least one medium. A Spiritualist teacher would take that as a reminder that people bring many skills with them, and that this is welcome. Acupuncture, though, is a discipline of its own, coming from traditional Chinese medicine, and in Australia it is a regulated profession with a protected title. [Spiritual healing](https://spiritfold.com/Spiritual_healing) is a different thing altogether. The healer works as a medium, gives healing without needles, instruments or diagnosis, and asks before laying on hands. Someone who is both a healer and a registered acupuncturist should offer each separately and make clear to the person which they are receiving, so that no one mistakes a healing for a clinical treatment or the other way round. Nobody should describe what they offer in a Spiritualist setting as acupuncture unless they hold the registration the law requires. For anyone seeking help, we would say what this page says: let your doctor know, and do not put off medical care. ## Acupuncture in Australia People have practised acupuncture in Australia since the 1880s, and healthdirect describes it as the country's most popular form of complementary medicine.[3] ### Regulation and protected titles Chinese medicine is one of the health professions regulated under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, through the Chinese Medicine Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra). From 1 July 2012, anyone using a protected Chinese medicine title, claiming to be qualified to practise Chinese medicine, or presenting themselves as a registered Chinese medicine practitioner has had to be registered.[6] Better Health notes that registration was already required in Victoria from 2000.[4] Section 113 of the National Law protects five titles for the profession: acupuncturist, Chinese medicine practitioner, Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, Chinese herbal dispenser and Oriental medicine practitioner. The law protects these titles rather than listing activities that only registered people may carry out. A person who is not registered must not use these titles, claim to be registered or give the impression that they are (known as "holding out"), and there are penalties, including prosecution, for doing so.[2] The Board says that a practitioner who offers "laser acupuncture" and describes it that way to patients is using a protected title and must be registered.[6] **Why titles are protected.** The Board explains that registration and protected titles exist to keep the public safe. People rely on the names practitioners give themselves to tell what kind of care is on offer and what qualifications stand behind it, so a protected title is kept for practitioners who have been assessed as competent to provide that care.[2] ### Acupuncture by other registered professionals Registered practitioners in other professions can practise acupuncture and use the title acupuncturist when their own Board has endorsed them for it, under section 97 of the National Law. An endorsement requires training beyond what general registration in that profession needs, and it appears on the public register. The Board says endorsed practitioners should present themselves, and be recognised, mainly as members of the profession in which they are registered. It points to the Medical Board of Australia's acupuncture endorsement, and notes that not every profession has set standards for one.[2] healthdirect lists doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, chiropractors, nurses and others among the health professionals who provide acupuncture.[3] ### Training and registration Qualifying as an acupuncturist takes at least four years of university study, and there are more than 4,000 registered Chinese medicine practitioners in Australia. Anyone can check a practitioner's registration on the public register kept by Ahpra.[3] Belonging to a professional association is voluntary; registration is a legal requirement.[6] Membership of an association is therefore not a substitute for registration when choosing a practitioner. ### Needles and therapeutic goods Acupuncture needles are therapeutic goods. To be sold legally in Australia they must be included on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, which is kept by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), and as goods that claim to be sterile they must be made under Good Manufacturing Practice.[4] ### Cost No referral from a doctor is needed. Acupuncture may be included in private health insurance extras cover, depending on the policy.[3] ## Safety and good practice ### Risks Acupuncture is considered safe for most people, but any procedure that pierces the skin carries some risk. Common side effects include tenderness, bleeding or bruising, dizziness, nausea and infection where the needles went in. Rarer, more serious problems include nerve damage, spread of blood-borne infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, and puncture of organs.[3] NCCIH notes that relatively few complications have been reported, and that they have come from non-sterile needles and poorly delivered treatment.[1] Better Health lists the problems that can arise in the hands of an unskilled practitioner, including allergic reactions to herbs burnt over the skin, infection from unsterile needles, and bleeding, bruising or pain from clumsy needling.[4] Both points show why training, registration and infection control matter so much in this practice. ### Before and after a session healthdirect advises:[3] - telling your doctor that you plan to have acupuncture, and telling the acupuncturist if you have a bleeding problem or take blood thinners, have lowered immunity, heart disease, some cancers or a metal allergy, or have hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV[3] - talking to your doctor first if you are pregnant, as there may be a risk of miscarriage in the first trimester[3] - not driving after a session until any tiredness or sleepiness has passed[3] - telling your practitioner if acupuncture makes you feel worse.[3] ### Infection control All registered acupuncturists must follow the Chinese Medicine Board's infection prevention and control guidelines, the national infection control guidelines for health care, and state, territory and local government rules for their premises. Needles must be pre-sterilised, used once only and put straight into an approved sharps container. A copy of the guidelines must be kept wherever acupuncture is practised.[5] The Board uses these guidelines as part of its role in protecting the public, and they help it decide whether action is needed when someone makes a complaint about a practitioner.[5] ## Related modalities - [Cupping](https://spiritfold.com/Cupping) - [Shiatsu](https://spiritfold.com/Shiatsu) - [Qigong](https://spiritfold.com/Qigong) - [Ayurveda](https://spiritfold.com/Ayurveda) - [Western herbal medicine](https://spiritfold.com/Western_herbal_medicine) ## References 1. ["Acupuncture: Effectiveness and Safety"](https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture-what-you-need-to-know). National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Institutes of Health. Last updated October 2022 (accessed 11 October 2026). 2. Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. ["Protected titles, endorsement and 'holding out'"](https://www.chinesemedicineboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/FAQ/Protected-titles.aspx). Ahpra. Page reviewed 30 September 2025 (accessed 11 October 2026). 3. ["Acupuncture"](https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/acupuncture). healthdirect, Healthdirect Australia. Last reviewed April 2025 (accessed 11 October 2026). 4. ["Acupuncture"](https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/acupuncture). Better Health Channel, Department of Health, State Government of Victoria. Produced with the Department of Health (Office of the Chief Health Officer); reviewed 5 September 2017 (accessed 11 October 2026). 5. Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. [*Guidelines on infection prevention and control for acupuncture and related practices*](https://www.chinesemedicineboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/Infection-prevention.aspx). Ahpra, September 2023; in effect from 1 December 2023 (accessed 11 October 2026). 6. Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. ["Registration and how to apply"](https://www.chinesemedicineboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/FAQ/Registration.aspx). Ahpra. Page reviewed 30 September 2025 (accessed 11 October 2026). 7. ["Arthur Findlay College"](https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/arthur-findlay-college). *Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology*, 5th ed., ed. J. Gordon Melton. Gale, 2001; reprinted on Encyclopedia.com (accessed 12 October 2026). 8. Gillen, Paul. [*The Spiritualists: Gnosis and Ideology*](https://figshare.mq.edu.au/articles/thesis/The_spiritualists_gnosis_and_ideology/19431146/1). PhD thesis, School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University, 1981. Macquarie University Research Data Repository, posted 28 March 2022 (accessed 12 October 2026). ## Further reading - Better Health Channel. ["Acupuncture"](https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/acupuncture). Department of Health, State Government of Victoria, 2017. - Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. [*Guidelines on infection prevention and control for acupuncture and related practices*](https://www.chinesemedicineboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/Infection-prevention.aspx). Ahpra, 2023. - Chinese Medicine Board of Australia. ["Protected titles, endorsement and 'holding out'"](https://www.chinesemedicineboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines/FAQ/Protected-titles.aspx). Ahpra. - healthdirect. ["Acupuncture"](https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/acupuncture). Healthdirect Australia, 2025. - National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. ["Acupuncture: Effectiveness and Safety"](https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture-what-you-need-to-know). US National Institutes of Health, 2022.