Some sites on the body are uncomfortable to insert needles e.g. digits, sole of feet and palm of hand. Needle-insertion also presents a problem in the treatment of infants and children, and in adults with needle-phobia. Some acupuncture sites are also unsuitable for needle-insertion e.g. in the nipples and umbilicus. Others need caution because of the potential for damage to underlying organs e.g. around the eyes and chest points in thin people.  

The use of needle-free modalities of therapy enables acupuncture to be done without any of the disadvantages of needle insertion. Light-stimulated devices are probably the more popular of the range of needle-free alternatives. Despite the many advantages of light-stimulated acupuncture the technique is still not as widely used as needle acupuncture. A problem with this mode of therapy is the inconsistency of response. Repeated treatment using the same points can produce varying results.

The author looked into the use of light pulsed at different frequencies and found that a pattern of response emerged. He found distinct subgroups of people who reacted optimally to a particular cluster of frequencies and was able to produce results consistently in each group using this combination of frequencies. Not only were results produced more consistent, but aggravation of symptoms in very reactive people could also be consistently produced! This however also enabled settings to be selected which minimised or eliminated aggravation of symptoms consistently while optimising results.

For more than 90% of his patients, the author uses a small battery-operated light-emitting device for point stimulation. The light emitted is totally safe as it is not radioactive and it lies within the visible-light spectrum. The light-source is of very low intensity – much less than a tiny fraction of that produced by a small pen-light and does not interfere with electrical devices e.g. cardiac pacemakers. The light source is pulsed at different frequencies, and varying these frequencies enables the author to obtain consistently good results.