Well...that's a great question. If we look at the strict science of it, no one can quite figure it out. fMRI studies show that brain is affected by acupuncture but no one is really sure of how that's happening. Since acupuncture developed far before imaging technology (over 2,200 years before), we don't really need that to explain how it works. It does take an open mind, however, so stay with me here.

As I explain on my About Acupuncture page, we believe that your body is a self healing mechanism. Meaning that when things go wrong (pain or sickness for example), your body should be able to handle things all on it's own. If it can't, that means that some pathology, blockage in the flow of qi (energy) and blood, and/or imbalance between internal organs is preventing that mechanism. This is your root condition: the true reason why you are suffering. If we don't treat the root, no matter what we do for the symptoms, it won't actually cure them. Think of this like the treatment of a tree. If there are bugs eating at the roots, the branches may look brittle and bare. Cutting some of them down may help the others to thrive for a while, but eventually, they will become bare again. This is because the problem isn't too many branches, it's that the tree isn't getting enough nutrients. You must eliminate the bugs so that the roots can grow and provide the tree with what it needs to thrive. Acupuncture works to eliminate the bugs so that your body can thrive. In order to do that, however, we must first diagnose what the root condition is.
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An accurate diagnosis requires 3 pieces of information: a detailed history, the symptoms you're feeling, and a reading of your tongue and pulse. The reason we need your complete history is because something that happened in your past could be influencing or contributing to what you are experiencing today. The symptoms will tell us how the root condition is manifesting in your body. Though this information is useful, it can be misleading because similar symptoms will manifest from different conditions. Like how a stuffy nose can be from allergies or a sinus infection. An accurate diagnosis is what leads to an accurate treatment, thus, the key to your diagnosis lies in your tongue and pulse. Different locations of your tongue and different positions of the pulse correspond to different areas and organs of your body. What we see and feel tells us what's happening. Theory will inform what points we use and how we activate them to correct what's happening. 
That brings us to the final piece of the puzzle: treatment. Point selection and activation techniques vary between styles and theories of acupuncture but we are all working towards the same goal- it's different routes to the same location. This means that you can see 5 different acupuncturists, get the same diagnosis from each of them but receive 5 different treatments. This flexibility allows us to treat your root condition from several different angles, but one will be the most direct and effective path for you. Now, you just follow that path to wellness.

So long story short, acupuncture works like this:
accurate diagnosis of the root condition -> accurate treatment of the root condition -> results

Huh...that looks kind of like how medicine works, doesn't it?

There seems to be an ongoing debate on which form of medicine is best: western (aka traditional) or eastern? In my opinion, they're two sides of the same coin. Two schools of thought which hold strength where the other has weakness. Both forms of medicine are complete in their understanding and treatment of the body, but we see things through different lenses which provide different perspectives on the same condition. As we all know, looking at something from a different angle can show us things that may have otherwise been missed. When east and west can work in sync, modern medicine will know no bounds. 

Our society, however, has very polarizing views on the best way to approach health and wellness. Most often, those views come out of fear. I've had several patients come to me with an aversion to western medicine after a bad experience. They don't want to take medications or see certain doctors because whatever they went through left them with a bigger wound than the one they started with. To everyone else who shares those feelings, I offer this: western medicine saves lives. It wouldn't be such a crucial part of our survival if it didn't work. Remember, there are bad doctors out there just like there are bad acupuncturists, or bad pizza places. Your experience with one doctor or one treatment should not be a reflection of the medicine as a whole. Just like your opinion on pizza shouldn't be based solely on what Donald Trump thinks is good pizza. (I would like to take this moment to apologize to Sarah Palin on behalf of New York). I also know of a lot of people who don't believe in the healing ability of acupuncture. They ask me, "Does it really work?" If it didn't, do you think I would be an acupuncturist? ​To those who are skeptical about eastern medicine I offer this: if it's survived almost 3,000 years, it must be working. The mechanics of acupuncture can be difficult to understand and even more difficult to test in a lab. There is really no such thing as "sham" acupuncture, which is what studies frequently use as a control. Inserting needles at random is still a treatment which means that a test subject may still feel relief, even if the treatment doesn't follow acupuncture protocols. In reality, there are no "one size fits all" solutions in acupuncture. Every condition is different because every person is different and thus, every treatment is different. So, a traditional lab test, which only proves positive if you get the same result in the same settings, won't be an accurate evaluation of the efficacy of acupuncture. To those who have tried it and didn't feel any changes, take a look at my About Acupuncture page under "Finding the Right Acupuncturist" for an explanation of why that may be. 
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Moral of the story, medicine isn't about conflict, it's about healing. There is no one ultimate solution to cure all disease. People will find relief in what they believe in (hence the placebo effect). For some, that faith in tradition, for others, it lies in what's ancient, or maybe a combination of the two. Ultimately, it all comes down to what makes you feel well. Explore your options by talking to experts you trust and researching through reliable and unbiased sources (WebMD doesn't count). Make decisions based on your gut, not by what you heard on the news or read on Facebook. Approach healing with an open and educated mind and you'll be amazed at how great you can feel. 

Our first lesson in the basics of acupuncture theory starts here: the tai chi. Probably the most famous symbol representing the Chinese understanding of the universe. Everything in the known universe can be broken down into yin and yang, something and it's complement. Nothing can exist without it's complementary force because everything is defined by it's complementary force. I choose not to use the word "opposite" here because opposition suggests separation or conflict. In Chinese numerology, the number two represents division without separation. As you can see, though the symbol is divided into two colors, they are unified as one whole circle. Another reason why I choose the word compliment is because comparing yin and yang is relative. Take men and women for example. When comparing one to the other, men are yang, women are yin. If you were, however, to compare two women to each other, one being a ballet dancer and the other a construction worker, the former would be yin in relation to the yang of the later. To move a level deeper, there are yin and yang aspects within every individual. Referring back to our female construction worker, she may be yang while at work, but yin while she's home knitting.

As I'm sure you already know, yin and yang are more than a simple way of comparing and organizing things of the universe. It's also the fundamental understanding of how the universe works. The white represents yang: energy that rises, associated with the sun and day, activity, and the male gender. The black represents yin: energy that descends, associated with the moon and night, rest, and the female gender. The larger portions of black and white are representative of balance and harmony, and the dot of the opposite color in each half represents their root of existence. Let's start with balance and harmony.  Think of a relationship in your life. If you're with someone whom you consider your equal, there's little conflict and what differences you do have can be used to strengthen your bond. If you're with someone and there isn't a balance of power, turmoil ensues (and we've all been there). The same logic holds true for everything else in the universe and it's where we acupuncturists do some of our work- harmonizing the relationships between organs so everything functions as it should. Now to explain the root of existence. Yin cannot exist without its root in yang and yang cannot exist without its root in Yin. Nothing can be entirely yin just as nothing can be entirely yang. If anything is purely one or the other, it actually creates separation and therefore death. To use men and women as another example, if one was to separate them from each other, the population would eventually go extinct. When we put those two aspects together, the symbol in it's entirety represents the transformative properties of yin and yang. Because each is rooted in the other, they have the ability to change from one form to the other, and continue to do so in an endless cycle shown by the buta-like shapes made with the larger black and white portions. We see this transformation every day as it changes into the night, or when children (yang) evolve into the elderly (yin).
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A lot to be said of such a simple symbol, right?