If you’ve ever been to an acupuncturist, you’ve probably been told there’s something imbalanced with your qi (energy). As you’ll soon find out, acupuncture really doesn’t have much to do with an energetic system inside your body. It’s time to update how we think acupuncture works. I’m an acupuncturist. Every day in the clinic, I insert small, sterile needles into people’s tissue. Even with this bias, I’m skeptical of many claims made by acupuncturists. In fact, I question the fundamental theory that acupuncture is built upon.