Interesting TCM Fact 101: Guide Tube for Acupuncture came from a Blind Acupuncturist

Some doctors in Acupuncture are using guide tubes these days for acupuncture treatments and you may be surprised that this innovation is not by any commercial company but by a blind acupuncturist.

Waichi Sugiyama who was a Japanese born in 1610 went blind at an early age after contracting smallpox. He then went on to become an acupuncturist as that was one of the few jobs that were available for the blind in Japan in that era.

One day when he was out walking, he accidentally tripped on a stone and fell. A pine needle sheathed in a bamboo reed ended up piercing the skin of his leg. This accident sparked an inspiration in him when he realized the pine needle was guided deep into the skin by the bamboo sheath. He then went on to invent a needle insertion technique using a small tube to aid in guiding the acupuncture needle into the body, a method that benefitted the blinded acupuncturists greatly.

Since then Sugiyama’s invention and innovation was passed down till today.

Sugiyama later served as a court physician until his death and was honored as the god of acupuncture in Japan.

TCM(Traditional Chin Med), TCM Wellness, Basics of TCMXiang Jun LimDr (TCM) Xiang Juntcm, traditional chinese medicine, guide tube, acupuncture, japanese