The needle gauges are very small. The average gauge is going to be 34. If you go to a doctor for a shot, you'll get at least a 22 gauge. The numbers work in reverse, so a 34 is a smaller needle than a 22. The needles also do not have hooks in them, because there is no fluid going through them. A doctor's needle is going to break the skin to bring tissue and blood into the canal inside that needle, so it's got to be big enough to accommodate that. Acupuncture needles are solid and very thin. When you hold it up you barely see it, because it is the size of a hair on your arm. Many needles are only half an inch long.
