Acupuncture points respond to needling but also to other types of stimulation such as pressure and electrical stimulation.  They also respond to the stimulus of a red light which flashes on and off at set frequencies and this completely painless technique of pulsed red light can be very helpful for certain conditions and for those who are afraid of needles.

Dr Monk uses pulsed red light to treat certain problems such as painful scars and small areas of eczema.

Recently NASA has carried out research showing that pulsed red light speeds up wound healing in astronauts (New Scientist 25 September 1999). Irradiating cells with red light boosts the efficiency of mitochondria and stimulates them to produce key chemicals called cytochromes. Red light is also now being used very successfully within conventional medicine to treat some types of skin cancer (New Scientist 13 November 2010).