By NICK TODARO

Staff Writer

Acupuncture. It almost hurts to say the word.

Imagine the surface of your knee and thigh being turned into a forest of long, tiny needles to cure your osteo-arthritic knee, which you earned yourself in high school fencing class.

Yeah, right.

Jeremy Newton, a senior computer information systems major, is a skeptic.

"If you say acupuncture to me, I'll think, 'needles,'" Newton said. "I've heard that it's therapeutic, but honestly, it would never even occur to me to have it done."

The Web site http://www.acupuncture.com defines it simply as the insertion of needles into specific areas to influence physiological function. Meaning, poke here and headache or joint pain goes away.

This is a practice with 4,700 years of history. The first records of acupuncture come from the "Huang Di Nei Jing" or the "Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine," which is said to be the first medical textbook in the world, according to the Web site.

The basis of the practice revolves around the flow of natural body energy, called Qi (pronounced chee). It covers all aspects of a person's life and governs the emotional and physical well-being of a person.

This energy is split into yin and yang, which are applied to conscious and sub-conscious thought, respectively. They also are connected with light or deep sleep, personality types and personal mood.

Yin is symbolically female, and yang is male.

Beyond the more metaphysical aspects of the trade, a certification process is required among practitioners. Needles are only available to those with a license to practice.

Dr. William A. Harrison is a practitioner of acupuncture and homeopathic therapies in West Monroe and has served the area for seven years.

His study of Eastern medicine and holistic treatment has spanned 12 years and taken him to Beijing to study "at the source."

Harrison said the practice of acupuncture is part of a homeopathic tradition in medicine that, up until 200 years ago, was all that was available. Modern medicine as we know it is young in comparison.

He also said Louisiana is a rather open state for holistic medicine, attributing it to diversity within the state.

"It doesn't hurt. I've had patients with needles in places that they weren't even aware of and never felt before," Harrison said.

"What stops people is more phobia than anything else. My wife has that fear, so I don't practice on her with needles, but there are a variety of other techniques at my disposal."

Laser treatment, which Harrison compares closely to needles and even said is a complement to needle treatment, is one option.

Acupressure, which utilizes the same system of body energy representation, utilizes fingertips and thumbs to practice a shiatsu-like body-on-itself kind of therapy.

"A laser vibrates the cellular structure in question just like the needle does, at the baseline frequency of our universe," Harrison said.

This may sound like hooey, but it is proven to work.

"My wife is a bona-fide epileptic," Harrison said. "She hasn't taken medication in two years, which I credit to my homeopathic attention. Since she's phobic of needles, I can't get away with using them on her."

Harrison emphasized that his practice is far from a cure all.

"Practitioners are misrepresented a lot," Harrison said. "Our treatment is a complement to treatment from a true, practicing M.D. I won't see anyone who isn't also seeing a practicing medical doctor."

Harrison said his work helps in a different way that works well with traditional medicine.

"I come in to really put my knowledge of people to use once a doctor has put his knowledge of medicine to use," Harrison said. "People who come to me are open to holistic and homeopathic medicine. Usually it works for them."