Oriental medicine is the oldest codified system of medicine in the world. It restores health and balance by treating illness and disease through the five major branches of Oriental Medicine, which include: acupuncture; herbal medicine; oriental nutrition and dietary therapy; tuina or oriental bodywork; as well as tai chi and qi gong, moxibustion, and cupping therapy.

Acupuncture is the practice of penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic sterile needles, or electrical stimulation, or acupressure, which then activates the body’s energy through gentle and specific movements of the practitioner's hands.

Acupuncture points are believed to stimulate the central nervous system. This, in turn, releases chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These biochemical changes may stimulate the body's natural healing abilities and promote physical and emotional well-being.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies have shown that acupuncture is an effective treatment alone or in combination with conventional therapies to treat the following:

• Emotional problems: anxiety, depression, insomnia, nervousness, neurosis, insecurity
• Gynecological problems: menstrual cramps infertility.
• Digestive problems: Gastritis, Irritable bowel syndrome, hepatitis, hemorrhoids.
• Eye-ear-throat problems: Rhinitis, sinusitis, sore throat.
• Musculoskeletal problems: Arthritis, back pain, muscle cramping, muscle pain and weakness, neck pain, sciatica, osteoarthritis, tennis elbow.
• Neurological problems:  Fibromyalgia, headaches, migraines, neurogenic bladder, Parkinson's disease, postoperative pain, stroke.
• Respiratory problems: Allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, bronchitis.
• Miscellaneous: , Addiction, irritable bladder, prostatitis, infertility, impotence, myofascial pain, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, asthma, nausea caused by surgical anesthesia and cancer chemotherapy, dental pain after surgery, diabetes, hypertension.

Oriental Medicine relies on a highly comprehensive and individualized diagnosis of a patient’s Qi (or chi) energy. The weakness, excess or imbalance of Qi affects key organ systems in oriental medicine and is the underlying cause of disease and disharmony. The oriental medicine  

practitioner uses a broad scope of therapies to restore balance to a patient’s Qi, thereby encouraging health and healing. 

“The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes acupuncture and oriental medicine as 

effective for over 43 conditions under the above-listed nine major health categories. 

(Source: National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine)” 

One important way that AOM differs from Western medicine is in the connectedness of the world and the human body. This view is based on the ancient oriental perception of humans as microcosms of the larger, surrounding universe—interconnected with nature and subject to its forces. The human body is regarded as an organic entity in which the various organs, tissues, and other parts have distinct functions but are all interdependent. In this view, health and disease relate to balance of the functions. 

Another distinction between TCM and western medicine is the methodology of AOM diagnosing which focuses on disturbances of qi, or vital energy. Diagnosis requires observing (especially the tongue), hearing/smelling, asking/interviewing, and touching/palpating (especially the pulse).