The Needle.
A clinical guide to the tool every acupuncturist holds, and few truly understand.
Most textbooks teach you where to needle. This book teaches you what to needle with, and why. A practitioner's guide to needle types, traditions, techniques, sizes, brands and safe selection, by Cristiano Pires.
Who it's for
Written for two readers above all.
The beginner, and the practitioner who wants to master.
The student or new practitioner
Standing in front of the needle drawer for the first time, lost between gauges, lengths, brands, guide tubes, and aware that no textbook ever quite explained which to actually use.
The experienced clinician refining the craft
You already know the points. You want to make the choice of needle a conscious decision, not a habit. To understand what each tool is asking of you, region by region, patient by patient.
Inside the book
38 chapters. 7 appendices.
One coherent way to think about the needle.
The clinical meaning of needle choice
Why the needle is a decision, not a default. A short history of the tool. The Nine Needles. Reading by lineage.
The language of needles
The seven-layer taxonomy. The anatomy of a needle and how to read a product line. Diameter, length, and the truth about stimulation. The metal itself.
The needles, family by family
Filiform, Japanese-style, Chinese body, facial, auricular, intradermal, scalp, abdominal, electroacupuncture, moxa-on-needle, plum blossom, three-edged, fire needle, and more.
Choosing well
By body region. By patient. By intention. By stimulation level. Common mistakes, gathered. Three cases worked end to end.
Buying, brands and supply
How to judge a brand. Regional buying notes. Starter kits and building an inventory at every stage of practice.
Decision tools you'll actually use
Needle decision tree. Body-region cheat sheet. Sensation scale. The decision matrix. Red flags when buying. Glossary.
From the prologue
"I did not write this book because I had mastered the needle. I wrote it because, for a long time, the needle quietly defeated me… This book is the map I wish someone had handed me at the beginning."
, Cristiano Pires
About the author
Cristiano Pires
Born in Porto, Portugal, in 1988, Cristiano is a student and practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture. He lives between Portugal and Costa Rica, with long stretches spent learning in Thailand and Spain.
His path to acupuncture began with his own illness, and an unexpected recovery, in a Mexican market, under the hands of a generous local practitioner. What began as gratitude became curiosity, and the curiosity became the question he has been following ever since.
This book grew out of something small and a little humbling: standing in front of a drawer full of needles, he understood that he did not really know the instrument in his own hand. Rather than pretend otherwise, he began to ask.
A needle is small.
The decision behind it is not.
Get your copy today for $39.
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