Arthritis is a common condition plaguing the elderly, making even the easiest daily tasks unthinkable. Most patients resort to taking pain killers and applying balms for a temporary relief from pain. Acupuncture has proven to be a very successful, cost efficient and a harmless medical procedure for many years. This method of treatment has attracted the attention of many with its remarkable results. This ancient medical practice has been used to treat arthritis by modern doctors; yielding great success. By needling, the patient feels a great relief from pain. And upon concurrent sessions the pain reduces drastically. Using the body’s own pain inhibitors, acupuncture acts better than conventional drugs and fastens the healing process.

Acupuncture dates back to many thousands of years ago, having been developed and refined by doctors of the yesteryear. Our earliest records of acupuncture being practiced dates back approximately to 3000 years in ancient China. Huang Di Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine) details acupuncture points, techniques and procedures for various diseases and has been translated, studied and revised by many modern doctors over the years.

Is acupuncture up to date with modern science? The short answer is, yes. Many doctors and researches from countries such as Canada, USA, UK, Japan, and China have conducted many researches and have archived over 500,000 articles detailing their research. Even our late Professor, Dr. Anton Jayasooriya has been in the forefront of integrating Acupuncture into modern medicine. This goes to show the profound understanding of the human body and its functions by the ancient medical practitioners.

Acupuncture has truly changed the way modern doctors approach their daily practice. And soon, hopefully, this miraculous art of healing will be more widespread and accessible to the people of Sri Lanka.