If you spend enough time around acupuncture, you eventually hear the question: Is Qi just a poetic way of describing nerves? The short answer is no. The longer answer is more interesting. Qi and Neurophysiology describe human function using entirely different languages, developed centuries apart, yet they often point to remarkably similar lived experiences in the body.
One arose from careful observation without microscopes. The other from microscopes without poetry. Both are trying to answer the same stubborn question: how does the body communicate with itself?
To explore whether Qi and Neurophysiology are talking past each other or toward the same reality, we need to slow down, suspend a few assumptions, and allow two systems to describe what they see without forcing them into premature agreement.
Two Maps, One Territory
Traditional Chinese Medicine describes Qi as movement, coordination, and responsiveness. When Qi flows well, the body adapts. When it doesn’t, things stagnate, overreact, or shut down. Neurophysiology, meanwhile, talks about electrical signaling, neurotransmitters, reflex arcs, and autonomic regulation. Where Chinese medicine sees patterns, modern science sees pathways.
The mistake is assuming one must invalidate the other. A subway map doesn’t look like a satellite image, but both help you get where you’re going. Qi is a functional map. Neurophysiology is a structural one. Neither tells the whole story alone.
Where Qi theory excels is in describing relationships—how digestion affects mood, how stress alters pain, how chronic illness reshapes the entire system. Neurophysiology increasingly agrees, though it prefers phrases like “network effects” and “central sensitization.”
Case Study One: Chronic Neck Pain
A patient presents with neck pain that worsens under stress and improves on vacation. In Chinese medicine, this is classic Liver Qi stagnation. In neurophysiology, it’s heightened sympathetic tone and altered pain processing.
Acupuncture reduces muscle tone, modulates spinal reflexes, and shifts autonomic balance. From one lens, Qi moves. From the other, neural thresholds change. The patient just knows they can turn their head again.
This is where Qi and Neurophysiology quietly shake hands without announcing it.
Case Study Two: IBS and the Nervous Gut
Irritable bowel symptoms fluctuate with anxiety, sleep, and emotional load. Chinese medicine describes this as disrupted Spleen Qi with Liver overactivity. Neurophysiology calls it dysregulated gut-brain signaling via the vagus nerve and enteric nervous system.
Acupuncture influences gut motility, visceral sensitivity, and stress hormones. Whether you say Qi harmonizes or parasympathetic tone improves, the outcome is the same: fewer emergency bathroom plans.
Ancient physicians didn’t know the vagus nerve existed. They just noticed that worry knots the gut. Science caught up later.
Case Study Three: Anxiety Without a Clear Cause
Some patients report anxiety with no obvious trigger. In Chinese medicine, this may be Heart and Kidney Qi failing to communicate. Neurophysiology might describe poor regulation between cortical and limbic regions.
Acupuncture can calm the system, improve sleep, and reduce baseline arousal. From one view, Shen settles. From another, inhibitory signaling strengthens. Either way, the patient feels more like themselves.
Again, Qi and Neurophysiology describe the same shift from chaos to coherence.
Different Languages, Shared Respect
The danger is reductionism. Declaring Qi “just nerves” strips Chinese medicine of its systems thinking. Declaring science irrelevant ignores centuries of measurable insight. The wiser path is bilingual fluency.
Chinese medicine offers a clinically useful way to see the whole person. Neurophysiology explains mechanisms with increasing precision. Together, Qi and Neurophysiology give us depth without dogma.
If nothing else, both traditions agree on one thing: the body is not a machine with replaceable parts. It is a conversation. When that conversation breaks down, symptoms appear. When it resumes, healing follows.
Call to Action
If you’re curious how acupuncture works without needing to choose between ancient wisdom and modern science, we’d love to show you. At our clinic, we treat the person, not the theory. Schedule a consultation and let your nervous system—or your Qi—decide for itself.
About Raleigh Acupuncture
At Raleigh Acupuncture Associates, we are committed to providing the highest quality, evidence-informed acupuncture with a strong foundation in compassion, integrity, and respect. Every patient is treated with dignity and individualized attention, regardless of background, beliefs, or personal history.
We welcome people from all walks of life and strive to create a warm, inclusive environment that supports healing and whole-person wellness. Our dedication to exceptional acupuncture care is paired with a genuine commitment to helping others feel better, move better, and live better. Here, professional expertise and thoughtful patient care come together to support your health and well-being.
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What our Clients are Saying
Acupuncture really helped my anxiety. I highly recommend Raleigh Acupuncture. Very professional, reasonably priced and focused on getting me better quickly. Thank you!
I came in for acupuncture highly skeptical that it would be able to help me. I’m an A-type personality and very wired. I feel like I’ve been anxious my entire life. My wife must have been secretly researching treatments for anxiety because last month she announced that I WOULD be trying acupuncture! She did well picking the practice, as the doctors at Acupuncture Associates were top notch. They explained how acupuncture worked to deal with anxiety and then set about doing it. Well, I wouldn’t be writing this letter if it didn’t work. So you know the outcome. Highly satisfactory! I’m still an A-type guy, but with a fraction of the anxiety. The feelings of dread that were constantly lingering around me are gone. In it’s place I feel a sense of peacefulness, albeit a wired peacefulness.
Ever since we moved to Raleigh I was feeling a great deal more anxiety. It was probably a combination of factors including the stress of the move, looking for work and possibly the weather. My chest would get uncomfortably tight and my heart would race throughout the day. I had taken medications in the past but didn’t want that again. Research on the web led me to Raleigh Acupuncture. They treated me for anxiety and after just one treatment I could feel the difference. I got 9 treatments and am completely better. I will continue coming because it makes me feel so good. I highly suggest acupuncture with them for the treatment of anxiety. It’s much more effective than medications.
My IBS triggered diarrhea every day, all day long, but especially in the mornings. It would be triggered by the foods I ate, stress at work, or nothing at all. I was getting to the point where I was going to give up my job and try to find a job where I could work out of the house. As a last resort I went to Raleigh Acupuncture. I started seeing changes right away, less attacks in the morning, less triggers during the day. Over the duration of my treatments it seemed like my intestines were getting stronger and less sensitive. After about a month of treatment I was just having problems in the morning, going about three times. After about another month I was having normal bowel movements just once in the morning. As far as I can tell, my IBS is completely healed.
My husband Arthur and I have used Raleigh Acupuncture bi-weekly for at least 4 years, for a variety of treatments, including general well-being. Both of us felt our ailments healed with the treatment. I initially visited for Irritable Bowel Syndrome – and had immediate relief… the practitioners are very professional and learned, and we have every confidence in them. Even though we pay out of pocket, we obviously feel that the acupuncture is worth it. We both highly recommend Raleigh Acupuncture – you won’t regret it!
I have always had a nervous stomach. Some people get headaches, I get stomach aches. It’s always worse with stress and eases up on the weekends when I can relax. I did not think of getting treatment until I stumbled on an article saying how acupuncture was excellent for treating stomach pain. I went to Raleigh Acupuncture and described my condition. They explained why my stomach hurt. It totally made sense to me. It’s all about internal balance. So they went to work on me to get my stomach balanced. And I’m pleased to say that it worked. I no longer have a nervous stomach and stomach pain, even in stressful situations. I’ve made some changes to my diet, based on their recommendations, and took chinese herbs for a while, but don’t need to take them now. I’m convinced that I would have lived with stomach pain for the rest of my life had it not been for acupuncture.
I’m totally afraid of needles, but my wife convinced me to try acupuncture for my IBS. It was really hampering my life. I’d have to go to the bathroom 5 times before leaving for work. Then at work I’d be sitting in a meeting and all of a sudden have to go again. Any type of stress set me off. At first they could only use 2 needles, that’s all I would let them do. But after a few treatments I started relaxing and felt more comfortable with the needles. The effect has been amazing. I’m so much better now. Mornings are easy, no problems at work. It’s hard to believe, because I’ve had this for my entire adult life. Now I just go in for maintenance and have some herbs I take when I need them. Raleigh Acupuncture is a great outfit.
I was feeling depressed and stressed because I didn’t like my job and didn’t know what to do with my life. I started taking Lexipro but it really affected my libido so I stopped taking it. I tried acupuncture because my husband said it helped him when he was depressed years earlier (before he met me!) I went to Raleigh Acupuncture and started treatments. They were really knowledgeable about Chinese medicine and explained how the body gets stuck in depression, and how the acupuncture gets the body unstuck. They really listened to me and helped me figure stuff out. I started feeling less depressed. Then I actually started getting more clear about what I wanted to do with my life career-wise. I decided to go back to school and now I’m almost done with my degree. I haven’t felt depressed at all since I was treated and I’m really excited about my life. I’m very grateful to them for being such great healers and such a great support to me when I really needed it.
I’m a dentist and over the last 20 years the nature of my work and positions required by my work had resulted in chronic neck pain. It affected my sleep, limited my ability to exercise, and was just a real pain in the neck! A friend at church recommended Raleigh Acupuncture and I gave it a try. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical, but gave it a try because I had tried a number other therapies with no success. I’m glad I did. They resolved my neck pain completely!
Very professional and really clear on what needed to be addressed. I made great progress. My neck pain was resolved in three treatments! Wonderful to find them.
Raleigh Acupuncture resolved my neck pain in six treatments! It was so bad I was taking prescription pain medications three times a day for a month. When that started upsetting my stomach I knew I had to find another solution. I thought I was afraid of needles, but after one treatment I saw how relaxing it was. I fell asleep during most of the treatments!
I’ve had generalized anxiety for years and had been managing it fairly well. But then I lost my job and the anxiety really escalated. I started getting panic attacks every day and dreaded even getting in my car to drive. My sister suggested that I try acupuncture, so I did. I went to Raleigh Acupuncture and explained my situation. They said they treated this condition all the time with excellent results. I was stressed about money too, but they had reasonable fees. They treated me with acupuncture and herbs for the next two months. I know it helped, because my unemployment situation didn’t change but I stopped having panic attacks. Even my regular anxiety decreased – significantly. It’s like my whole body relaxed and things didn’t make me anxious as easily.
