A lot of patients have asked me the same question: What does acupuncture do? I will start from the concepts of TCM(Traditional Chinese Medicine) that include Yin and Yang, Qi and blood, Channels and points…hopefully they will finally understand. It is unfortunately very hard for me to give them a proper explanation in biomedicine since not many scientific evidences have supported the mechanism of acupuncture, according to the literature up to date.
The video below was shared by a dear friend Kobi, who was from Israel and came to my university and hospital studying acupuncture 13 years ago. This experiment has provided some amazing experiences.
The key word of “De Qi” that has caused the difference between the treatment group and control group in the experiment, is defined as a cramp-like feeling, tingling, numbness, heaviness and other sensations ensuring curative results for acupuncture (Hui, 2007), that occurs after a proper needle insertion (NCI, 2013).

Reference:
Hui, K. K. (2007). Characterization of the “deqi” response in acupuncture. BMC complementary and Alternative Medicine, 7:33.
National Cancer Institute. (2013). De qi sensation. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.gov/dictionary?cdrid=467835.