The traditional Chinese understanding of how acupuncture works relates to qi (pronounced chee). Qi is the life energy, contained in every part of the body. Some qi determines nutrition, helps defenses, or helps the blood and circulation, for example. Qi must flow around the body harmoniously.

A related concept is yin and yang, the positive and negative aspects or opposing forces in the body, which must be in balance. Qi conducts the energy in order to balance the opposing forces throughout the body. A modern corollary for this concept is the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system - yielding positive and negative feedback. If qi is in deficiency or excess in any one organ, you get a yin or yang predominant state.

You may have seen drawings showing the meridian lines on the body, depicting where the acupuncture points fall. Each line has a beginning and end but is linked to another meridian, with the qi flowing in a definite direction. All the meridians are ultimately connected. When the flow is interrupted due to a lack of qi or lack of energy to propel this flow, a pathological condition occurs.

Each meridian line relates to a particular organ, such as the stomach or lungs. Stimulating points along that meridian will help to treat diseases of the organ. The surface acupuncture point on the body is where the internal organ manifests its function. An example of how meridians flow relates to heart attacks, which may cause not just chest pain but a radiation of pain into the left arm; this arm pain falls precisely along the heart meridian line.

Why does needling at a distant point from the problem help? Traditional Chinese medicine theorizes that any one part of the body reflects the entire body. A modern understanding of this might relate to our DNA; every single cell of our bodies carry the entire set of DNA codes, thus representing our entire body.

Because rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory and painful condition, it falls into the realm of interruption of qi . Inflammatory conditions reflect an excess of qi ; however, dull pains and stiff joints are indicative of a deficiency of qi. This probably mirrors the evolution of rheumatoid arthritis, from an early stage when it is highly inflammatory to a chronic, late stage where there is more atrophy, stiffness, and dull aching. The treatment of course has to be appropriate for each stage. So the clinician must examine you to determine the stage in order to use the appropriate acupuncture points. However, rheumatoid arthritis can be helped.