Acupuncture is considered one of the oldest healing therapies in the world. It has been practiced for thousands of years across the world. Its beginning was in China thousands of years ago. Acupuncture is one of the main therapies of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). According to a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997: acupuncture is being "widely" practiced—by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners—for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.
