Electrical testing and acupuncture without needles: is there a point?

If you have always liked the idea of acupuncture but been put off by the prospect of needles, there is a non-invasive alternative. Laser acupuncture, a relatively new method of stimulation, uses low-energy lasers to influence the flow of current at the acupoints. And a smart complement to this is the AcuGraph Meridian Test that has recently landed in Hong Kong.

Australian acupuncturist Matthew Scott has introduced the AcuGraph Test at Dr Susan Jamieson Integrative Medical Practice in Central. It’s a quick and simple computerised exam that spins out reams of information about your body.

Like a lot of people I’m not a fan of needles and only agreed to check out the AcuGraph on the assurance I wouldn’t be treated like a pincushion. The test itself only takes about 15 minutes. I sit in a chair opposite Scott and he asks me to hold a metal bar in my right hand while he touches a pen-like probe to various spots on my left hand.

“What I’m doing is measuring the acupuncture points on the body’s 12 main meridians – each meridian on both sides of the body,” says Scott, who has been practising acupuncture since 1990.

According to acupuncturists, meridians are invisible energy pathways that conduct the life-force energy or qi around our body. Blockages in the pathways are said to cause energetic imbalances. Acupuncture treatment aims to restore the proper energy flow to the meridians so that the body can function normally.