Technique for treating some painful conditions and for regional anesthesia by passing long thin needles through the skin to specific points. Needles of various shapes are inserted into the skin with the purported aim of stimulating acupoints, which supposedly enable direct influence of the flow of Qi (chi). Practitioners may be called “acupuncturists” or “acupuncture therapists.” Most forms of acupuncture are unnaturalistic. Neuro-electric acupuncture and New Scientific ElectroAcupuncture—and, apparently, osteopuncture—are naturalistic. (Also known as acupuncture therapy, Zhenjiu.)