Is acupuncture safe?

As anyone who reads the majority of my posts on here I am generally conservative when it comes to acupuncture. While I am all for advancing the field and trying new things, this, quite frankly, sounds ridiculous. Acupuncture is fine just the way it is - just find a good practitioner and work with them and stay far away from the gimmicks... (and it may very well be illegal as Feng points out, although it really depends on who is doing it). If you, or your practitioner, feel that you can "sustain" the effects of acupuncture points (which is not really how it works anyways as the changes are internal and the points are simply gateways.. but..) presstacks, press balls, etc. have been used for a much longer time to attain the desired effects.