Western Acupuncture Mechanism

Western medicine has explained the pain control action and analgesic in two different ways.

The gate theory of pain was put forth by Patrick Wall and Robert Melzack about thirty years ago. This states that there are gates or filters in the spinal cord which can increase or decrease the transmission of the pain information to the nervous system.

The second theory states that there are the pain relieving substances called the opiates which are present in the central nervous system. These substances include the endorphins and enkephalins.