Thickness of acupuncture needles typically used are between 0.12 mm to 0.30 mm. There have been debates on size of acupuncture points, but it is said to be smaller than 1㎠. It is not hard to imagine the difficulty of accurately hitting a correct acupuncture point with a tiny needle. I personally think the point location skill is one of the most important skill for acupuncturists. However, this skill varies significantly among acupuncturists.
Experienced Chinese style acupuncturists typically use strong stimulation techniques to narrow the gap.
Whereas, experienced Japanese style acupuncturists typically use palpation techniques to narrow the gap.
Although their point location skills vary, experienced acupuncturists can still manage to get good clinical results.
You can read more about the differences between Japanese and Chinese acupuncture here↓
The 7 main differences between Japanese Acupuncture vs Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture
Inexperienced acupuncturists face major problems. What was taught at a school does not always work. So, many of them have to rely on local acupuncture (needling where problems are) or other techniques which do not require as precise point location as distal acupuncture, such as cupping, moxa, electro-acupuncture, Tuina or Shiatsu. I am in no position to say these techniques are bad or shouldn't be mixed, but I want to say that there is a special characteristic only for distal acupuncture. Distal acupuncture can exploit reactions of a body by giving noxious stimulation while not actually hurting it. This is very unique and difficult to achieve with other techniques.
An interesting systematic review about the point location was published this year.
The Accuracy and Precision in Acupuncture Point Location: A Critical Systematic Review
These are quotes from the review;
"Considerable variation in localization of acupoints was reported among qualified medical acupuncturists."
"The lack of accuracy and precision in qualified and experienced acupuncturists is a cause for concern. "
"Lack of ongoing maintenance of skills or lack of reskilling may contribute to discrepancies and variability in point location even among experienced acupuncturists."
SEIDO acupuncture puts emphasis on the precise point location. According to its research project using MEG, a few millimeter difference in a point location considerably affected the test result.
You can read about the project here↓
History Changing Acupuncture Medical Project in Northern Japan
I was lucky to have many comrades to practice SEIDO acupuncture when I was in Japan.
Now I am in Europe. I cannot practice as often as before, but luckily an acupuncture school in Spain hosts SEIDO acupuncture seminar twice a year. I will be attending it on September. I am looking forward to the seminar and my first visit to Spain!