One of the most common challenges TCM practitioners face is the question, usually politely worded, sometimes not, of how acupuncture works. For a long time, the honest answer involved a lot of “we know it does, but the mechanism isn’t fully mapped yet.”

That answer is becoming less and less true.

A comprehensive review published in Acupuncture Research by researchers from Fudan University and the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences has produced what may be the most detailed mechanistic picture of acupuncture to date; one that reframes the practice not as a localized intervention or a placebo effect, but as a form of programmable neuromodulation acting through defined neural circuits.

The Circuit Map

The review synthesizes recent experimental evidence to trace exactly what happens from needle to response. Mechanical stimulation at an acupoint is transduced into neural signals through mechanosensitive receptors and connective tissue interactions. Those signals activate sensory neurons in the dorsal root and trigeminal ganglia, which relay to the spinal cord and brainstem. From there, the central nervous system engages autonomic outputs; vagal, sympathetic, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal pathways, to produce coordinated immune regulation across multiple organs simultaneously.

Locally, acupuncture remodels the immune microenvironment through controlled neurogenic inflammation, increased blood flow, and coordinated activity among sensory nerves, mast cells, and fibroblasts. Systemically, vagus nerve-dependent anti-inflammatory pathways suppress excessive inflammatory responses. The enteric nervous system is also involved, acupuncture strengthens gut barrier integrity and modulates microbiota-neuropeptide interactions to influence whole-body immunity.

One of the more clinically relevant findings is that stimulus parameters; intensity, frequency, and depth to determine which neural circuits are engaged. This explains something practitioners observe but has been hard to articulate to sceptics: acupuncture’s effects are bidirectional and context-dependent because the inputs are specific and the circuits they activate are specific.

Why This Matters for Our Profession

This research does something important beyond advancing mechanistic understanding. It provides a translation layer between TCM’s traditional framework and the language modern medicine demands. Concepts like treating the root, regulating the whole, and addressing the relationship between systems rather than isolated symptoms; these are not poetic metaphors. They describe, in their own language, exactly what this circuit-based model is now demonstrating in neurobiological terms.

For practitioners in Ontario working to establish TCM’s place in interprofessional care settings, this kind of research is significant. It is harder to dismiss a modality as non-scientific when researchers at Fudan University can point to a “mechanical stimulation–neural coding–immune response” framework that maps the full pathway from needling to systemic immune regulation. The authors themselves note that this mechanistic clarity supports integrating acupuncture into modern treatment paradigms for inflammatory and immune-related diseases.

The science is not just validating what we do. It is giving us better language to explain it.

Source: Tian et al., “Acupuncture effects and neuro-immune regulation,” Acupuncture Research, 2025. EurekAlert summary published April 22, 2026.

Blog Post

Electroacupuncture and Breast Cancer Survivors: What a New Study Means for Our Patients

Breast cancer survival rates have never been higher, but for the more than four million survivors in North America, surviving treatment is often just the beginning. Brain fog, fatigue, insomnia, and anxiety can linger for months or years after treatment ends, and conventional oncology doesn’t have strong tools to address them.

A study published this April in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute suggests electroacupuncture may be one of those tools.

What the Study Found

The UC Irvine-led randomized, double-blind pilot trial enrolled 35 breast cancer survivors reporting cognitive impairment, fatigue, insomnia, and psychological distress. Participants received ten weekly sessions of electroacupuncture targeting either neuropsychiatric-specific acupoints or nonspecific control acupoints.

Nearly 43 percent of the targeted group showed measurable cognitive improvement, specifically in attention, compared to 12.5 percent in the control group. Brain imaging showed increased gray matter volume, neuroinflammation biomarkers improved, and the treatment was well tolerated. The lead researcher noted that patients often feel unprepared for the cognitive and emotional challenges that persist after cancer treatment, and that robust evidence is needed to show how integrative interventions can be incorporated into survivorship care.

Why Point Selection Matters

Both groups received electroacupuncture, but only the group treated at acupoints specifically linked to neurological and psychological function showed significant results. The researchers concluded that where acupuncture is applied matters. That finding speaks directly to the diagnostic sophistication that registered TCM practitioners bring to their work.

What This Means in Practice

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in Canada. Many of our patients are survivors navigating fatigue and cognitive symptoms that their oncology teams aren’t equipped to address. This study gives us more to stand on in those conversations, and in conversations with the oncologists and other providers who may be part of their care. Electroacupuncture for neuropsychiatric symptom clusters now has a randomized controlled trial behind it, published in a journal oncologists read.

The research is catching up to what many of us have seen in practice. The question is whether Ontario’s healthcare system is ready to catch up too.

Source: Chan et al., Journal of the National Cancer Institute, April 2026.

Scope Creep and Our Stance on External TCM Training Courses

Recently, it was brought to our attention that there is a course being offered to Chiropractors, Physiotherapists and Massage Therapists by a company called Integrated Seminar Series. The course seems to offer specific techniques for MSK conditions. However, the course outline also includes “– A brief history of the origin and theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) – All 361 acupuncture points across the 14 meridians and the 48 extraordinary points”.

As members of the TCM&A profession, we are aware that other RHP’s are authorized to use acupuncture techniques within their scope of practice, however, the inclusion of TCM knowledge and knowledge of all acupuncture points is clearly outside the scope of any RHP save members of the CTCMPAO.

TCMO believes that it falls within the mandate of our regulatory College to protect the public from practitioners in other RHPs who improperly use courses such as this to improperly treat conditions outside their scope. 

We’re hopeful that the College will take action on this, and that it may form a part of a public education campaign. 

In the meantime, TCMO will continue to monitor this situation closely. Rest assured, we remain fiercely committed to advocating for the integrity of our profession and ensuring that the depth of Traditional Chinese Medicine is respected and protected in Ontario.

A recent piece published by UW Medicine put into words what Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners across North America have long known: acupuncture is no longer on the fringe. It is becoming a recognized, evidence-supported tool in mainstream pain management — and the medical establishment is starting to say so out loud.

This is a milestone worth pausing on. And for those of us working to advance TCM and acupuncture in Ontario’s healthcare system, it is also a call to action.

What the Research Is Showing

The UW Medicine report arrives alongside a growing wave of clinical evidence. A landmark study published earlier this year in NIH News in Health found that acupuncture significantly relieves chronic low back pain in older adults — one of the most common and costly conditions in Canada. In a trial of over 800 adults aged 65 and older, those who received acupuncture alongside standard care experienced less pain, better physical function, reduced disability, and fewer anxiety symptoms compared to those receiving standard care alone.

The researchers noted that acupuncture “offers a less invasive option with a better safety profile than many common treatments for back pain in older adults” — a pointed observation at a time when opioid-related harms continue to exact a heavy toll on patients and the healthcare system alike.

And this is just one study. Separate research published this year has shown acupuncture reducing insomnia risk in lung cancer patients, improving outcomes in IVF, and producing measurable changes in brain connectivity in migraine sufferers. The evidence base is deepening, diversifying, and strengthening.

A Better Safety Profile Than What We’ve Been Relying On

The opioid epidemic did not emerge from nowhere. It emerged, in large part, from an over-reliance on pharmacological interventions for pain — interventions that carry significant risks of dependency, adverse effects, and long-term harm. The CDC now actively advises maximizing non-pharmacological options for pain management, and acupuncture is explicitly among those it recommends.

This is not an alternative medicine story. This is a patient safety story. Acupuncture offers effective pain relief without the risks that have caused so much suffering. As the evidence continues to accumulate, the question shifts from “does acupuncture work?” to “why aren’t more patients accessing it?”

Ontario Is at a Crossroads

Here in Ontario, that question is especially urgent right now.

The provincial government is in the midst of one of the most significant restructurings of primary care in a generation. The Ontario Primary Care Action Plan is investing over $2.1 billion to expand interprofessional primary care teams across the province, with the goal of connecting every Ontarian to primary care by 2029. Approximately 75 new teams are being created and expanded through the current call for proposals alone, with the aim of connecting 500,000 more people to primary care.

These new care models — built around coordinated, team-based approaches to health — are exactly the kind of environment where Registered Acupuncturists and Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners belong. TCM practitioners are regulated health professionals in Ontario. We have the training, the clinical skills, and now the mounting research evidence to contribute meaningfully to these teams.

But we are not yet at the table.

TCMO has been actively advocating for the inclusion of TCM and acupuncture within Ontario’s evolving circle of care. We believe that patients in interprofessional primary care settings should have access to regulated TCM practitioners as part of their healthcare team — not as an afterthought or an optional add-on, but as a recognized component of comprehensive, patient-centred care.

The research supports this. The patient need is real. The regulatory framework already exists. What we need now is the political will to include us.

What This Means for Our Community

If you are a Registered Acupuncturist or TCM Practitioner in Ontario, this moment matters. The decisions being made right now about who belongs in Ontario’s new primary care teams will shape the profession for decades.

TCMO will continue to push for a seat at the table — for our practitioners, for our patients, and for a healthcare system that draws on the best available evidence regardless of where it comes from.

We encourage every member of the TCM and acupuncture community to stay engaged, make your voice heard, and support advocacy efforts that advance our profession’s rightful place within Ontario’s circle of care.

TCMO (Traditional Chinese Medicine Ontario) is a professional association dedicated to advancing TCM and acupuncture in Ontario. We represent Registered Acupuncturists (R.Ac) and Registered Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners (R.TCMP) across the province. Learn more at tcmo.ca.

Sources: UW Medicine — Acupuncture Becomes More Mainstream as Pain Therapy | NIH News in Health — Acupuncture Relieves Chronic Low Back Pain in Older Adults | Ontario Primary Care Action Plan — January 2025 | Ontario Call for Proposals: Interprofessional Primary Care Teams

A recent clinical study published in BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies examined the effects of electroacupuncture on patients experiencing diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain. In this randomized clinical trial, participants receiving electroacupuncture showed statistically significant reductions in pain intensity compared to control groups, alongside improvements in quality-of-life measures. Importantly, adverse effects were minimal, reinforcing acupuncture’s safety profile when delivered by trained practitioners.

This study aligns with a broader trend in North American research, where acupuncture is increasingly evaluated not as an “alternative,” but as a complementary, evidence-based intervention for chronic pain conditions. Systematic reviews and clinical guidelines now recognize acupuncture as a viable option for conditions such as chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis, and neuropathic pain—particularly when used as part of a multidisciplinary care plan.

For Ontario practitioners, this kind of research is especially relevant. As a regulated profession, acupuncture in Ontario is well positioned to engage with evidence-based healthcare models that emphasize patient safety, measurable outcomes, and collaboration with other healthcare providers. Studies like this contribute to a growing foundation that supports informed referrals, interdisciplinary dialogue, and patient-centred pain management strategies.

Read the study:

Electroacupuncture for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies