I've had acupuncture (once, to quit smoking) and I've had arthroscopy (twice on my right knee, once on my left, each time to repair torn cartilage), so it was with deep interest that I read about acupuncture's hidden pain-relieving properties and arthroscopy's great gift of extending the careers of pro athletes. The story about the 5,000-year-old Chinese practice of acupuncture appeared in Anesthesia & Analgesia. The story about the 50-year-old Japanese procedure of arthroscopy appeared in Sports Illustrated.