As a member of The People’s Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA), we work with other clinics to help make affordable community acupuncture (CA) available across the country.

One of the challenges we face is the need for more acupuncturists who desire to work in a CA setting, either to start their own clinics or to work in existing clinics.

Currently, acupuncture schooling does not prepare acupuncturists to work in CA, and it is so expensive that many graduates have enormous student loans at the end of their training.

POCA’s solution is to start our own acupuncture school—POCA Tech– which will train acupuncturists to work in a CA setting while costing a fraction of traditional acupuncture school.

The program is in development, and we are fundraising to make it a reality. POCA Tech needs $125,000 in start-up costs, and currently has a little under a quarter of that.

We at Down to Earth Acupuncture have donated over $1,000 to POCA Tech. Now, we would love to get our patients and community involved in this effort!

Can you spare an extra $5 at your next appointment? We are hosting a buy-a-brick fundraiser at the office— for $5 you can put your initials on a cardboard “brick” that will grow and grow up our office wall. It will be a great visual to show the progress toward the realization of POCA Tech.

Here is a picture of the fundraiser at Working Class Acupuncture in Oregon (they are using Legos for the visual).

Have you ever wished that there was a clinic close to your relative in another part of the country? More CA-trained acupuncturists can help make that happen! Please consider donating to POCA Tech! If you can’t make it into the clinic, you can also donate online (just let us know, and we’ll write out a brick for you!).

This Saturday, I will be part of a panel discussion on Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Raynaud’s at the 1st Annual Raynauds Association National Patient Conference in Boston.

I have treated several patients with Raynaud’s syndrome, which impairs blood circulation to the extremities, causing cold hands and feet and often pain and numbness. Symptoms can range from mild annoyances to severe and life-changing. For some background on Raynaud’s, read this article from the Mayo Clinic.

In the course of researching for my presentation, I was surprised to find that not much clinical research has been done into acupuncture and Raynaud’s. However, the limited studies that have been done have found acupuncture beneficial.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory is based on circulation—the flow of Qi and blood through the meridian pathways. So, using acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to treat circulatory disorders seems particularly fitting. In fact, TCM literature from almost 2,000 years ago describes a condition of cold hands and feet, and the herbal formulas to treat it.

In my own clinical experience, I have found that acupuncture can lessen the symptoms of Raynaud’s—patients tell me that they are able to tolerate cold situations (like the freezer section of the supermarket) with less discomfort.

While not a cure, acupuncture and herbal medicine are all-natural and minimally invasive, so they may be worth a try. Contact us if you would like more information about acupuncture and Raynaud’s.

Here is an interesting study from researchers in Hong Kong. They found that acupuncture, when combined with eyeglasses, improved the vision of children with amblyopia (“lazy eye”) better than glasses alone.

The results were better in children under 6 years old than in children between 7-12 years. This suggests that it is more effective to start treatment early.

At River Valley Acupuncture, we offer pediatric treatments for children under 13 years old for a low flat rate of $15 per treatment.

For more suggestions on improving eye health, read this article from Acupuncture.com. You may also want to consult with a Behavioral Optometrist about further resources.

Patients often ask me if Chinese acupuncturists really practice community acupuncture. A recent blog post to the Community Acupuncture Network website does a great job explaining how patients are treated in hospitals in Shanghai. Follow the link for the full text. An excerpt is below. As you can see, the Chinese clinics are actually a lot busier and nosier than community acupuncture practices here in the United States (but both get great results)!

“I conducted my acupuncture internship at Yueyang Hospital. Inpatients often receive acupuncture every day, while outpatients normally receive acupuncture 3 times a week. At the outpatient acupuncture department, patients start lining up as early as 6 in the morning for treatment. The department doesn’t open until 8 a.m., but there are no appointments – treatment is given on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you’re a new patient, the doctor will do a brief intake in her office. The office functions as the intake area as well as the place where the doctor and interns wash their hands, rinse out bloody cups, give injections into acupuncture points, insert ear seeds, check patients’ blood pressure, and even treat patients if the rest of the treatment area is full. It is a hive of activity, and by no means private.

The doctor will review the patient’s chart, ask questions, and check the tongue and pulse. Then the patient goes to the treatment area. The doctor with whom I studied, Dr. Zong, supervises an area of 8 tables and 3 chairs. The main area (pictured below) contains 4 tables and 3 chairs. There are curtains which can be used to provide privacy, but these are rarely used.

Each doctor is followed by a troupe of 2 to 4 clinical interns. Dr. Zong is in charge of the study-abroad program for international students, so there is also a group of 4 to 5 foreign students following her as well. As you can imagine, the treatment room is anything but quiet. Patients are chatting with other patients; interns are running around cupping, applying moxa, and removing needles; and Dr. Zong is calmly and methodically moving from patient to patient. As soon as one patient leaves, another takes his place. There is no time to change the sheets or even pause for a breath.

If you’re a returning patient, as soon as it’s your turn, you go right to your chair or table. Dr. Zong will come to you and do the intake right in the treatment room. There is no whispering here, no hushed voices. It would be hard to hear a whisper over the din. One of the first words you learn upon arriving in China is renao, which literally means “hot and noisy.” Renao has a very positive connotation. A place that is not renao feels empty and sad. Chinese clinics are very renao.”

***
“In the midst of the noise and through the haze of the moxa smoke, healing is taking place here. One of my favorite patients was being treated for schizophrenia, and she said that the treatment had allowed her to feel stable enough to return to work. Another patient with partial paralysis was able to get down from the treatment table by herself. This is truly a people’s medicine clinic, and the medicine works. Patients typically come at the same times each week and get to know each other. Husbands and wives come together, mothers bring their sons. There is a wonderful sense of camaraderie in the treatment room. They share the road to health together.

While those of us in the West may prefer a quieter room with some relaxing music in the background, Chinese acupuncture clinics and Community Acupuncture clinics are essentially the same: no fuss, no bother, a focus on the treatment itself and not on the interaction with the doctor, and high quality acupuncture at a low cost. Chinese acupuncture is Community Acupuncture.”

Not surprisingly, the #1 answer to my poll question “Why Don’t More People Try Acupuncture” was: “They Don’t Know Enough About It.” This answer combined with the #4 answer, “They Don’t Think It Will Work” (which I see as an extension of #1), accounted for over half of all responses.

The survey participants confirmed what I see to be the biggest challenge facing the acupuncture profession today– not enough people are aware of how acupuncture can help them.

Of course, providing that information is a major part of why I write this blog (and have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, and do speaking engagements whenever I’m asked). But one person, even with the amplification of the internet, can’t reach everyone. This is why I’m hoping that each person who reads this article will share the information.

Here’s what your friends, family, and colleagues need to know:
1. What acupuncture can treat. You’ll find a partial list here. Acupuncture is appropriate for most non-emergency conditions (although in China it is sometimes used for emergencies as well).
2. The benefits of acupuncture. In addition to being effective for many conditions, acupuncture is all natural, safe, and virtually side-effect free (you might come away with an occasional bruise).
3. Who should try acupuncture. Many people prefer to start off with the least invasive treatment– sometimes drugs or surgery are not the only option. If you know someone who is seeking a natural treatment strategy or even someone who has tried many kinds of treatments without success (I see that a lot), these folks would be good candidates for acupuncture.

What if someone wants more information before making a decision? I offer free telephone consultations (508-890-8899), or they can contact me through the website.

Thanks for spreading the word!

Thank you to everyone who took my survey about why people don’t try acupuncture. Some of the results came out as I expected, but others surprised me.

I will be discussing the results over the next several blog posts. To begin with, here was the basic information:

• 30 People responded to the poll.
• 43.3% of them had tried acupuncture before.
• Almost 80% knew a friend or family member who had tried acupuncture.
• In response to the question “In your opinion, the #1 reason why people don’t try acupuncture is,” the most popular answer (44.8%) was “They don’t know enough about it.”
• In second place was: “They are afraid of it” (27.6), followed by “It’s too expensive” in third place (20.7).
• Just under seven percent of people chose “They don’t think it will work” and no one picked “There aren’t any acupuncturists close by.”

Do you agree with these opinions? I’ll give my take on the results in the coming weeks.

A 2007 survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (part of the National Institutes of Health) showed that less than 2 percent of adults in the U.S. had received acupuncture in the past year.

A 2003 survey by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine found that about 9% of adults had tried acupuncture at some point in their lives.

For a system of medicine that has been in the United States since the 1970s (and in other parts of the world for thousands of years), this seems to me like a very low number.

Acupuncture is completely natural and virtually side-effect free. It can be extremely effective for many conditions (just ask our patients). And, thanks in part to many positive research studies, it is growing in acceptance in the Western medical community

So, why don’t more people try acupuncture? I’ve written a survey based on several theories. Please take 2 minutes (it’s only 4 questions) to answer the questions with your honest opinion. Do you think I’ve missed an explanation? Please feel free to write in other thoughts.

I will share the responses in a future blog post (all surveys are anonymous).

I’m truly interested in your opinions– please take the survey today!

Earlier this month, the Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle released the results of a clinical study on acupuncture for back pain. It became controversial almost instantly.

Here’s why: the results showed that acupuncture worked for back pain, better than conventional medical care. However, it also showed that “fake” acupuncture, where the acupuncture points were pressed with toothpicks instead of pierced with acupuncture needles, worked just as well as traditional acupuncture.

So, does this mean that acupuncture is a sham? Have I wasted years of education and practice?

I’m not worried.

The control group in a scientific experiment is supposed to be essentially the same as doing nothing (the reason why they don’t “do nothing” is to account for the possibility of the placebo effect– and that topic deserves a whole different blog article).

The problem with the study is that the scientists don’t understand the concept behind Chinese medicine. They assumed that true acupuncture always involves the insertion of needles through the skin. In reality, these toothpicks actually stimulated the same acupuncture meridians as needles would. That means that it wasn’t really a control group.

Instead, we call this non-insertive acupuncture. It is familiar to acupuncturists, acupressure practitioners, and shiatsu massage therapists, though it is not usually performed with toothpicks!

There are many conditions– like back pain– that might respond just as well to acupressure as to acupuncture, but we don’t have enough information to know that for certain. This abstract presents a possible explanation for why “fake” acupuncture sometimes performs just as well in research studies.

There are other reasons why I don’t put a lot of weight on these kind of studies, but that will have to be the subject of another post.

Acupressure is based on the same theoretical foundations as acupuncture, but is done without needles. It is a good treatment choice for young children or for anyone who is extremely afraid of needles.

A study done last year showed that an acupressure treatment with acupressure beads was effective in helping calm children before they went into surgery. Compared to anti-anxiety medication, acupressure treatments are less costly and have no side effects.

The United States Air Force recently announced a program that surprised, and thrilled, many acupuncturists.