system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5 What is actually happening during acupuncture, does it actually work ?
gpt
In Acupuncture and in most of traditional Chinese medicine, there is a belief that an invisible life force (called qi) flows through our bodies using certain pathways (called meridians).  Illness is generally caused by an imbalance in qi within our bodies, so acupuncturists stick needles at certain meridian points in the body to balance the flow.  You can think of our body as a series of pipes, with qi being the equivalent to water, and the needles as valves.  If there is something wrong with the water flow in any area of the body, then you manipulate the valves until the water flows correctly.

Whether any of this works or not, is the real question.  Right now, there does not seem to be any conclusive proof that acupuncture is actually effective at what it does, so it is often considered a form of quackery.