Table 3.

Acupuncture Techniques⁹

Technique	Category	Translation	Purpose	Brief summary
jing ci	Nine piercings	Channel needling	Pain	Needling areas of hardness or pain (not specific points)
fen ci	Nine piercings	Divide needling	Pain	Needling deeply between the muscle layers
mao ci	Nine piercings	Hair needling	Numbness & pain	Superficial needling between the skin & derma
cui ci	Nine piercings	Glowing needling	Pain gets worse with cold	Heated needle is inserted into the painful spot
bao ci	Twelve regulations	Repeated needling	Pain without a specific location	Inserting needle, retaining, then inserting another needle after eliciting pain
hui ci	Twelve regulations	Extended needling	Tendinopathy/Sinew-channel	Needling the Sinew-channel in multiple directions to free up restrictions
qi ci	Twelve regulations	Gathered needling	Pain	Multiple needles inserted into one location
yang ci	Twelve regulations	Spreading needling	Pain in a large area	One needle is inserted deeply with shallow needles surrounding it
zhi zhen ci	Twelve regulations	Straight needling	Pain	Parallel insertion into the superficial layers of the skin
duan ci	Twelve regulations	Bone needling	Deep pain	One needle is inserted deeply & then pistoned, tapping the bone
fu ci	Twelve regulations	Floating needling	Muscular contraction	Oblique superficial needling
bang ci	Twelve regulations	Sideways needling	Chronic pain	One needle is inserted perpendicularly; a second needle is inserted obliquely at the angle of the tip of the first needle
guan ci	Five depots	Articulation needling	Tendinopathy/Sinew-channel	The needles are inserted perpendicular to the sides of the Sinew-channel
he gu ci	Five depots	Valley needling	Pain	Inserting, withdrawing superficially, changing the angle, & inserting deeply again; repeat in multiple directions