Acupuncture is an alternative medicine that uses wire-thin needles inserted by a trained practitioner into specific points in the body. this ancient form of pain relief and stimulation is said to benefit patients by blocking channels which practitioners claim allow pain to travel within the body. this practice became more widely recognized and used after a new york times reporter wrote in 1971 of a positive experience with it after surgery. those who doubt the effectiveness of this treatment for pain attribute the pain relief to a placebo effect: if a patient believes something will reduce