Teishin–Alternative Acupuncture

The teishin is a tool used in needleless acupuncture. It is a small blunt ended instrument, often made of precious materials, which is used to do a non-penetrating acupuncture. Acting as a non-invasive probe, the teishin tool can stimulate 100’s of points on the surface of the body without piercing the skin.

Needle-less Acupuncture

The word ‘acupuncture’ is most commonly associated with the use of needles that penetrate the skin, and many mistakenly believe that acupuncture involves only needle penetration. The teishin method however is a ‘needleless acupuncture.’ It is a powerful and effective treatment and is a particularly good alternative for patients who do not tolerate needles well.

Ancient Origins of Teishin

The first documentation of the teishin method can be found in the oldest extant manual on acupuncture, The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine (the Huangdi Neijing). The manual’s origins are obscured and thought to have been written around 2-3 thousand years ago. Ancient healers first discovered and developed the points of acupuncture, the meridians, diagnostics, and treatment using instruments that did not penetrate the skin. In fact, these practices began thousands of years prior to the invention of needles as we know them today.

The Fascia and Teishin Use

While the teishin provides an alternative acupuncture which is extremely gentle it is extremely effective because it works with the body’s fascia network. This network is an interwoven system of fibrous, connective tissue just underneath the skin and above the muscle layer. Fascia has support and protective functions for the entire body by providing blood and nutrients while removing waste. The teishin works with the fascia system and the channels of the body through which life force or qi flows. The practitioner palpates areas of the body to find excess or deficient qi then applies the teishin to correct that.

The fascia system can be considered “a vibrating pulsating field that, like the breath, reflects state of being and reactivity to internal and external conditions. This can actually be palpated anywhere on the body, not just at the radial pulse. And the energetic physiologic shift induced by acupuncture can also actually be felt. ⁽¹⁾