south austin community acupuncture's blog

Community Acupuncture is Integrative Medicine

2012-02-17T09:34:00.013-06:00

I came across a story highlighting a recent survey of integrative medicine centers in the U.S. “One of the most striking, though perhaps predictable, conclusions of this study is that integrative medicine is, in fact, integrative. It integrates conventional care with non-conventional or non-Western therapies; ancient healing wisdom with modern science; and the whole person — mind, body, and spirit in the context of community” (italics mine). What communities are they talking about?

Its highlight, and self-fulfilling, statement: “Integrative medicine is now an established part of healthcare in the United States.” An established part of healthcare based upon a survey of 29 integrative medical centers. Twenty-nine? That's not even one for every state. It seems to me that they are missing some communities. (In all fairness, they were able to identify 60 integrative centers nationwide, but only surveyed 29.)

It made me recall a book that a friend gave to me: We've Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy...And the World's Getting Worse. It's co-authored by James Hillman and Michael Ventura. (Ventura currently writes a bi-weekly column called Letters @ 3am that appears in the Austin Chronicle.) The book is a collection of dialogues—conversations, letters and phone calls—that look into the role of therapy. Right off the bat Hillman points out that we are ignoring the impact the environment has on us: “By removing the soul from the world and not recognizing that the soul is also in the world, psychotherapy can't do its job anymore. The buildings are sick, the institutions are sick, the banking system's sick, the schools, the streets—the sickness is out there.” Ventura takes it a step further and says, “Our inner knowledge has gotten more subtle while our ability to deal with the world around us has [...d]istnegrated.”

Disintegrated? Sounds like we need something that's integrative. And so these integrative medicine centers have been popping up and trying to re-establish the foundation of modern healthcare: take our technological breakthroughs in Western medicine, which look at the individual as a machine made up of discrete parts, throw in a dash of “ancient healing wisdom” that knows that the whole is more than the sum of the parts, and voila: ideal healthcare.

Integrative medicine centers are more “patient-centered” and address the “full range” of health issues, because it sounds like that is one of the big missing variables that will help fix the healthcare boondoggle—or at least make those who can afford the doggle happier. But these centers are palaces, generally slick and high-dollar. What community is that in the context of? I look and see that the “regular per session cost is between $115-$124” for acupuncture at one of these centers. That range is so small you should just say it costs $124, you’d save it in employee time wasted on explaining who is at the high end and who is at the low end.

But my main point isn't even about dollars and cents. Practitioners can charge what they want to charge and if people are willing to pay it, then that's no fault of theirs. However, the survey also pointed out that “63% of patients seen are self-referred.” That means more than half the people who get treated with “alternative” or “complementary” therapies are initiating the search themselves—some of them from within that particular healthcare system itself and some who are just looking around for it and an integrative medicine center is all they can find or seems the most credible. “If I’m going to pay a lot of money for this, I’d rather go to a Center.” And that’s really the main point: integrative medicine centers are popping up because people want these alternative options. It’s a market. Something their communities have not had before.

Integrative medicine centers do some great things: they are more apt to be part of the cross-talk between mainstream medicine and alt-stream medicine; they conduct research on alternative therapies to try and examine what has essentially been learned through tradition; and they are on the front line for a lot of patients within the system who have decided their healthcare community is not providing everything their soul needs to be healthy. Yet, is that changing the healthcare environment enough?

I find that one of the great things about the community acupuncture set up is that it goes beyond the idea that a market is available and wants to re-integrate the idea of health with the environment—at least the immediate environment where you are getting care. We often admit here at South Austin Community Acupuncture that we have health concerns, and while we don't overtly talk about them all in front of one another, we do put the healing process in a more public setting—to me that gives soul to healthcare. Gone is the doctor's office waiting room where everyone avoids eye contact with everyone else, because you don't want to have anything to do with someone else's illness. From Hillman and Ventura: “The illnesses are your teachers...[d]evaluing the illnesses and suppressing them removes you from these figures.” And in real communities, illness is not isolated.

At the community acupuncture clinic, in the large treatment room we are all focused on wellness. It creates a web of relationships that is often missing from the health care system today. And that is probably why community acupuncture has exploded onto the scene over the past few years. When South Austin Community Acupuncture opened five years ago it was one of the first ten or so community acupuncture clinics in the entire country. Now there are 161 across the United States. That’s an incredible growth rate. It’s the kind of growth rate that speaks VOLUMES about the “context of community.” It also speaks volumes about the state of the acupuncture profession to create jobs, but that’s beside the point. Whether you come in with friends or strangers, you still find something in this community. And community is, as Ventura calls it, “simply the actual little system in which you are situated.”

-- and here's Ventura's column from earlier this year remembering his friend and collaborator, James Hillman

Fwd: Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Profession?!?

2012-02-13T12:02:00.008-06:00

Here's a link to Lisa Rohleder's latest blog, this one on turf warfare and the acupuncture profession. I tried to link to it from Facebook, but the url kept getting lobbed off so you wouldn't be redirected to the actual blog, so here you go:

https://www.pocacoop.com/james-restons-appendix/post/wont-somebody-please-think-of-the-profession

Regarding turf warfare and acupuncture, in Texas it is a particularly sordid tale.

It was under cover of darkness one legislative session that the chiropractors got a hold of the acupuncture statute and changed the definition of acupuncture to suite their needs. Subsequently, then attorney general, John Cornin ruled acupuncture to be within the chiros scope of practice solely because they had stuck the words "non-incisive, non-surgical" into the definition. Jim Mattox had previously ruled that acupuncture was not within chiropractors' scope. So simply by jacking with the definition of acupuncture in an already lacking statute, chiropractors were able to freely practice acupuncture with absolutely no training requirements. This went on for some twelve years or so until finally a couple of years ago the Chiropractic Board ruled that 100 hours of training was sufficient.

So even if you don't give a damn about turf warfare, it's hard not to see the whole thing as slimy. My perspective on the chiropractic profession in Texas - which apparently is pretty well known for its aggressiveness and perpetual creep of scope - is definitely colored by having an understanding of how this all unfolded. On the whole, I hardly think the motivations for their glomming onto acupuncture were altruistic.

I can only wish we had a practice act like the fine folks in Oregon do (one of the first states to license acupuncture in the 70's), just for the sensibleness of it's language. Here in Texas acupuncture was not a licensed profession until 1992, and our practice act is just not very well worded.

The acupuncturists' last legislative effort in Texas, in which we were trying to add a couple of more things we could treat (stress, allergies) without the requirement of referral from a physician, actually got caught up in a fight between the medical doctors and the chiropractors over needle EMG, and was dead on arrival because one side or the other had inserted language into our bill they insisted must remain - none of which had anything to do with acupuncture.

So yeah, turf warfare is, um, really weird, and truth be told has little if anything to do with the day to day reality of how I practice. The backdrop of how things have unfolded in Texas is none the less particularly strange. You want to see an alternate reality? Go visit the capitol when the legislature is in session. I've been cornered by chiropractic lobbyists down there, it's a weird scene. It really does lead one to question what really is important? and what kind of a world are we trying to create anyway?

You see, with the community acupuncture model of practice, things that are just commonly accepted as the way it is are so turned on their heads that everything is changed. What we are doing is so outside those systems that it really does call into question much of the "conventional wisdom" around professions and exclusivity.

Community acupuncture clinics are choosing to step outside that paradigm altogether, and to do something completely different - to create entirely new systems that better serve us as acupuncturists, and most importantly better serve our patients.

Instead of fighting for a piece of the pie (a mindset that fundamentally is one of scarcity) or a place at the table within disfunctional and broken systems, we're just gonna build our own table and bake our own pie, thank you very much.

The Dandelion Harvest, continued...

2012-02-01T12:39:00.000-06:00

So this morning I embarked on the process of cleaning the many pounds of dandelion I harvested. This is cleaned dandelion on an improvised drying station (hey, I'm figuring this out as I go). I estimate this to be about 1/100 of what I collected! Called a couple of farms to see if they could help me get it all cleaned. Learned a little about their processes, but no takers...

The Dandelion Harvest

2012-01-31T18:43:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I harvested dandelion (Pu Gong Ying) from my yard until my back hurt and my hands were sore and plant stained. It was a beautiful cool and drizzly day. I've been thinking a lot about sourcing plants locally, and trying to grow herbs and exploring what can be grown locally and regionally. So here ya go...

Now to see if I can actually pull off cleaning and drying this stuff for future use here at South Austin Community Acupuncture.

A Letter to the Editor

2012-01-22T12:28:00.003-06:00

The following is my response to a recent practice management article published in Acupuncture Today. I have emailed it to the editor, but given that Acupuncture Today is actually not the open forum they claim to be, I seriously doubt it will see the light of day. And so I am posting it here. This is the same publication that canned Lisa Rohleder of Working Class Acupuncture for her articles on community acupuncture and social entrepreneurism. Interestingly, Lisa was the only author in the history of the publication whose Acupuncture Today online talk back forum actually had any activity. Now the talk back forums are gone.

Here’s my letter:

In the spirit of Acupuncture Today being “committed to bringing an open forum to the acupuncture profession” I’d like to make some comments about Lawrence Howard’s article, “Many Offices, Many Lessons”. While some of Mr. Howard’s observations offer valid insights into human nature, some represent – to me – a mindset that as healthcare providers we have an ethical duty to transcend.

I congratulate Mr. Howard on his 13^th anniversary of being a practitioner, but have to question the implications of working in more than 24 offices in 13 years. Is this accomplishment a result of the keen self awareness that ‘the likes of those he has worked for or with’ apparently lack? While bouncing around from clinic to clinic may offer a unique perspective, it is hardly a position from which to write about practice management with any authority.

I say this as someone who has been out of school about seven years and successfully owned and operated my own clinic for the last five years.

The notion that “through patient education, the practitioner encourages the patient to raise the dollar value they assign to their discomfort” is nothing short of absurd, and quite frankly morally reprehensible. Yes, Mr. Howard, some people have to “self discharge” because they can no longer afford treatment. Assigning greater value to ones discomfort unfortunately does not equate with greater means, or better outcomes.

And yes, sometimes fees do correlate with patient success. I see it all the time in my clinic, but based on my direct experience of 5 years and nearly 20,000 treatments given to date, it is not at all as you say it is.

How one structures their practice, whether insurance based or cash based, high cost or low cost, high volume or low volume, is a matter of personal preference. I have no issue with people charging whatever they want, however they want, for their services. But this idea that “high fees attract only the most committed patients and consequently have the highest chance of success, and thus referrals” is one that needs to be put to rest once and for all.

High fees attract only patients that can afford to pay high fees, and sure, if someone can afford high fees they can probably afford to get as much acupuncture as they want or need. But patients are committed to treatment for all kinds of reasons, and people stop coming for treatment for all kinds of reasons, and treatments succeed or fail for all kinds of reasons. To attempt to correlate high fees with greater commitment, or greater success is false logic, and from my perspective seems to be nothing more than the musings of someone who hasn’t been in one place long enough to know any better.

From what I can tell people have a higher chance of success if they can afford treatment. It’s that simple. Likewise, people refer if they see good results. It has nothing to do with how much they pay. I know this to be true because I charge $15 - $35, have committed patients, get great results, and have a vast network of referrals.

Your $300 quit smoking example is a good one. I think people basically are going to do what they do regardless of what they pay, but again their chances of success are improved by their ability to access the medicine. For example I have a social worker on a very limited fixed income coming to me for the NADA protocol currently, which we charge $10 for (that's right, I charge $10 for about 20 cents worth of needles and a couple of minutes of my time). She was distressed because with frequent treatment her budget was being stretched at that price. I offered her treatment for $5 instead, and she’s doing great. At the end of the day will she stop smoking and stay stopped. Who knows? But at least she now has the same chance as someone paying $300 has.

I’m not saying everyone should charge less, or practice how I practice, but this notion that people who can’t afford high priced treatment need merely to be educated or more committed needs to stop.

Perhaps acupuncturists would be well served by focusing on their commitment to their patients instead of their patients' commitment to them.

Comments on Wiki Qi

2012-01-22T12:00:00.000-06:00

What follows are an AOMA students comments on my Wiki Qi blog, and my response to him. I'm re-posting as a blog because the way comments are formatted you can't easily see them. Here goes:

Dec 5, 2011 10:13 AM
Dear Wally,

I have read your blog in reaction to the “Wiki Qi group” at AOMA and I was surprised to read such strong opposition from a man who wants to make acupuncture more affordable to the community. I don’t know who our Wiki Qi group is but I felt it was a courageous step in addressing this increasing gap between loan distributions, education costs and costs of living. I would agree that some points could have been addressed differently. There was a great deal of passion present in that email as there is here in your blog. Opinions around finances in the world today are an increasingly tender spot , as making ends meet has become a little harder. This is why your service at South Austin Community Acupuncture is so important.

The student is the end of the chain when finances are tight. The teachers desire more money, the book authors desire more money, the administrators seek more money and so there is a need to increase profits yearly to keep this cycle going. But the government is not giving students more money and so what is left over to live with is getting smaller and smaller. The School (as you will recall) recommends that full time students do not work because of the demands of full time education. Therefore, many students, as you apparently did, take the full amount allowed. After purchasing books, supplies, rent, food, utilities, gas, etc there is not a lot of wiggle room and for some it will not even cover that much. Where are the students to come up with the financial backing for these increasing costs?

You point out that it’s only a 3% increase in several places in your blog as if it’s too small amount to fuss over and yet just recently UT students faced a 2.6 % increase and said enough is enough and it looks like the students have won. The school will come to the decision this week. All of these seemingly small increases are adding up. There are other places to cut costs. And this does not need to be a cut to teachers or staff but perhaps a freeze on income. If no one got a raise next year it might balance out. The staff then, as well as the students, would need to find a way to be more efficient. Student loan distributions have not had a raise in a while after all. When students get a raise, the financial award can get passed up the chain.

This would possibly have an effect on your girlfriend’s income, who is employed at AOMA and I have to wonder if this is why you are so incensed by the student movement as you are not entirely neutral to the effects this might have on you. We are all personally affected by these changes.

I respect Wiki Qi’s opinions and call to awareness and in fact I respect your opinions too Wally. I would add that both you and Wiki Qi could work a little on how your tone and choice of words may not be doing justice to the points which you are trying to make. If we can work through the oppositions we might come to some agreements.

Jason McLay AOMA Student

And my response....

Jan 6, 2012 10:19 AM

Hi Jason,

Thanks for your input.

I actually thought that relative to some of the stuff Wiki Qi wrote what I said was pretty measured.

I spoke up about Wiki Qi’s email because I thought it was presumptuous and disrespectful to the point of just being dumb. Regarding some of the points you make:

First of all, you say that I “point out that it’s only a 3% increase in several places as if it’s too small amount to fuss over” when actually, not once was this the point I was making. My point was not to be dismissive of the amount or effect of the tuition increase, my point was to address Wiki Qi’s reaction to it - which was pretty over the top.

Having said that, I’m not sure what catalog you are under, but the 2011 – 2012 catalog states the following: “AOMA reserves the right to make tuition adjustments of 4-8% per year that reflect changes in the cost of living and cost of education, subject to governing board approval.” These are the terms you have agreed to by undertaking a program under a given catalog. So yeah, I guess you could say it was only 3%.

The overarching theme of Wiki Qi’s message seems to be that the AOMA administration is irresponsible and incompetent, and that the students bear the brunt for this. I don’t agree with this. I understand it’s hard financially to be a student, and there have been a lot of big changes at AOMA recently, but come on…

It's easy to write a bunch of reactive bs (anonymously no less) about the "school" and the "administration” as if you are writing about a thing rather than actual people. I don’t find it to be particularly courageous or constructive. For me the people that make up AOMA are my friends, colleagues, teachers, and yes – one is my girlfriend. And from what I can tell, they are a fairly capable bunch doing good work with a high level of integrity.

I don’t really know how to respond to your musings about my girlfriend’s income and my neutrality or lack thereof, other than to say yes, my girlfriend is the Director of Finance at AOMA, and no, cost cutting measures that affect her income do not make me angry. Otherwise you’re kind of into the realm of the hypothetical. I didn’t know about “the student movement” for instance.

Regarding your being “surprised to read such strong opposition from a man who wants to make acupuncture more affordable to the community”, I can’t say I follow your logic. I honestly don’t know that there is any correlation between the cost of treatment and the cost of education – if that’s what you are getting.

When I went to school, then president Jim Coombes pretty much made it clear that this was adult education, and that we needed to take responsibility for our choice to be there. He made it clear there were no guarantees of success and encouraged us to borrow as little as we could. So work part time if you need to. My girlfriend did the whole time she was in school.

The cost of education, and the state of acupuncture in the US are complicated issues and my thoughts and opinions about these topics don’t fit neatly into one camp or another. Nor do I see any easy solutions. While the disparity between the cost of an acupuncture degree and the earning power of that degree is a real issue for many, I don’t think acupuncture schools are out to screw you. And yes, if you borrow all the money you can you are going to graduate with a whole lot of debt and be entering a field where you are pretty much on your own. It is something to think about. Most people don’t really think about it I suspect.

Wiki Qi...you've got a leak.

2011-11-06T09:37:00.001-06:00

This will mean nothing to most people. But to those involved in the study of acupuncture and Oriental medicine and AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine specifically, it might mean a little something.

What follows is an email distributed by an AOMA student recently in reaction to a 3% tuition increase.
My comments on this email are this....

I graduated from AOMA in 2004, and am up to my eyeballs in student load debt. I didn't have to not work while in school. I didn't have to borrow the full amount I could. I could have borrowed only the amount of tuition and I'd have about half as much debt. But that's not what I chose to do. I OWN that, and I don't whine about it.

And so, to "Wiki Qi" I say:

First, if you are so all about OWNERSHIP, then speak for yourself instead of hiding behind the moniker of "Wiki Qi" and claiming to represent anyone other than yourself. I guess there's safety in numbers, even if they are imaginary. Talk about transparency issues. If Wiki Qi actually represents numbers of students then say who you are. What are you afraid of? You state below in your ridiculous email that whistle blowers cannot be retaliated against. One could construe from your language that you are actually implying AOMA is corrupt and/or breaking the law. Seriously.

If your perspective is that AOMA is a business and you their customer, and you are not a happy customer - and your dollars are your only leverage - then TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE.You seem to view education as a commodity. So go find the better deal. Or better yet, do something else entirely if this is so disagreeable to you.

Your attempt to draw parallels between a 3% tuition increase at an acupuncture school and what has gone on recently with the financial sector in this country is beyond absurd. "Acupuncture schools are flourishing"? What planet are you on? You think somebody's lining their pockets with your 3% tuition increase? You have no idea what you are talking about.

Get a clue, and put your efforts into actually learning something instead of trying to tear things down you don't even know anything about. Talk about arrogance and ignorance.

Here's the "private" email that was sent around:

From: Wiki Qi <wikiqimail@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Nov 3, 2011 at 3:09 PM
Subject: Raised Tuition AGAIN?! Occupy AOMA! (Please read. This is YOUR education! Own ALL of it!)
To:

Occupy the Bank of AOMA?

The Bank of America was “bailed out” by the People -- the taxpayers -- and then it raised their fees as thanks. The public was incensed and protested. The bank recanted.

Does AOMA seem to be acting similarly by raising tuition again? Will they recant?

It seems there may be clear comparisons to protests all over the country and activities on campus: Arrogance and ignorance?

(Come speak your mind at the meetings this week! Follow each other and post your problems regarding this AOMA issue and others on Twitter: @wikiqi.)

Points of concern:

- Why did AOMA ‘build’ the school if they can’t afford it? Why should students “bailout” another poor administrative decision yet again?

- How has this new campus really benefited the student who, according to AOMA’s own numbers, will still be making only $20,000+ one year after graduating? (Typically an education this expensive yields higher rewards/income and such an institution typically offers you more assistance. We get little and the future is even declining. AOMA needs to be investing in ventures that benefit careers and reduce expenses, not just spending money on poor landscaping.)

- What other cost savings can be employed instead of using “bailouts” from students? Shouldn’t AOMA pay it’s “fair share?” Example: The recent website and branding re-launch was quoted conservatively as costing $30,000. Could we have used such funds more efficiently? Where else have we wasted money? (What about using some of those funds for online registration so we needn’t pay 7 staff members to write down schedules on paper and dry erase boards? Technology=reduced costs=benefit to students.)

- We are in a recession. We just lost subsidized loans. We had moving costs with the new campus. The dollar is devalued. The list goes on. Yet the AOMA administration frames the increase as if it is only a small percentage, when our overall costs have gone up and we have received many increases in total. That is a manipulative and short sighted portrayal. A key tactic in marketing: Get them to take a little bite at first, then you can cram more down their throat.

Facts and Questions:

- Acupuncture programs are flourishing, but their students are struggling -- and not just in the U.S. Is that a symptom or a disease? What is the root? Should we be getting charged more money for a diminishing return? Shouldn’t the market dictate that we adapt and not raise costs but lower them? It seems if you want to make money in acupuncture, you need to get into administration or teach, not practice. (If a person could be making more money not teaching, many would likely would not be teaching...)

- On average an AOMA graduate finishes with over $100,000 in debt yet will make just $20,000+ a year after graduating while a Family MD’s median payout for his/her doctorate is $150,000 yet he/she will be making on average $207,000. Granted, we knew this was not Wall Street and we like that! But should the disparity be growing and the schooling getting more expensive?

- The new school still lacks true quiet study space, a consolidated campus, more room, an improved clinic -- all the reasons they cited for moving! It is marginally more pleasant, and it benefits AOMA, the business, and their pursuit of a doctorate program that will pad their pocket books. But the true benefits to an studen are negligible and to a graduate, next to nothing.

- Academia functions like a business in a safe bubble. Much like “greedy” banks have TARP funds. Colleges get paid by Uncle Sam and have to adapt much less to the real economy of the real world. Businesses have been hurting everywhere and downsizing, but AOMA aims to grow and make more money off their private, monopolized market: The Students.

- Increased student jobs on campus are provided by the government more than AOMA and should lower AOMA costs for personnel and therefore tuition.

- AOMA has family and investors under it’s employment that benefit from such increases.

- AOMA constantly has administrative and transparency issues -- like not giving students loan money for months at a time!!! This is not acceptable in a school this expensive, much less an increase of those costs! Generally: You pay more, you get more. What do we get?

Bottom line: As students pursuing a career and a future we must be more vocal as customers in the present. We are indeed customers and our dollar is not only a vote, it is our only leverage!!

Are we getting what we paid for? Paid -- that is the key word.

The school holds all other cards. The one thing that balances is our identity as a customer -- and this identity position has been definitively defended in courts of the U.S. and 3 other countries, for both public and private institutions.

It is less about the reasons (and excuses) the school and the administration spout about costs and expenses. It is about their lack of responsibility. It is about their poor management and planning. It is about them placing the desperate needs of the educational institution and our careers as high on the priority list as their business and money making pursuits.

In the end, this is an acupuncture school and not Bank of America.

Maybe...

*This is a private letter from students to fellow students, initiated by Wiki Qi -- a student organization that meets outside of the school and thinks outside the box.

Thank you for your time. Good luck! This is a great profession!!! We have to speak up and own it.

References:

-YELP, Better Business Bureau, Federal Trade Commission = Since you are a customer and AOMA a business, you can complain here and retaliation is legally suspect if not an outright violation of the Consumer Protection Act and or Free Speech Act.

The same applies for most comments on social networks. There was even another case recently decided in favor of a student out of Florida.

- FAFSA, Texas State Board of Acupuncture Examiners, Texas Health Department = If you have complaints about the school or it’s finances or clinic practices, this is where to go. Retaliation is a legal violation of the Whistle Blower Act.

Note: It was recently defended in court that the Freedom of Information Act applies to colleges/universities. The defense stated that by cooperating and meeting regulatory requirements for federal financial assistance, such programs are, in so far as financial assistance is concerned at least, in effect arms of the government and subject to it’s laws and requirements.

If you want financial numbers, file a petition. They must comply.

Special things

2011-11-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

As a community acupuncture clinic we largely rely on patient word of mouth to keep this thing going.
Recently, we've come up with a couple of ways to say thank you to existing patients for their efforts.

First, we are rolling out the SACA Frequent Poking Plan. Tres simple: You get nine treatments, and your tenth is free! These are available at the front desk and look like this:

We also have a referral program we're trying out. With this, you hand out cards to friends who haven't tried us yet. These cards will have your name on them. When we get five of them back, you'll get a free treatment. These look like this:

This is a great way for you to help spread the word, and get a little something extra for your efforts.
If there is anything else you can do to help, all help is appreciated. Pick up a few flyers next time you're in. Wear you're SACA "I sleep with strangers at..." t-shirt. Display your SACA bumper sticker proudly.
Anything, and every little thing helps. We are, after all, all in this together.

The Party of Special Things to Do or... The Great Good Place

2011-10-19T05:12:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I turned 48. It was a particularly good birthday, celebrated pretty much all weekend. Kelly and I had a first little gathering at our home we've been making together, I beautifully landscaped a corner of the yard I'd been struggling with for years, and I spent my actual birthday doing what I love to do the most - lots of acupuncture for lots of people. The Party of Special Things to Do indeed (a Captain Beefheart reference). Wrapped it all up doing another one of the things I do quite expertly - watching TV in my sleep on the couch. Woke up to a lovely PBS segment on surgeon turned potter, Cliff Lee.

Last week I had a patient tell me his brother used to be a cook at Armadillo World Headquarters. As a result he got to sneek in to many great performances there...Van Morrison, Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart, and on and on...He was telling me this because he noticed the clinic's armadillo logo and domain name (Acupuncture World Headquarters) and he got it. It's not so often people get the nod to the 'dillo which is our homade branding effort, so it's always fun when they do.

There's another thread that runs through all this though, which was made crystal clear to me during the recent community acupuncture workshop held here in Austin, put on by the fine folks of Working Class Acupuncture with an additional hand from Alexa of East Nashville Community Acupuncture. What I'm talking about here is the notion of "the great good place" as put forth by urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg. Thanks Alexa, for sharing this.

Turns out what Ray Oldenburg is articulating is what community acupuncture clinics are doing. Who knew?

I have at various points attempted to make this connection. I've added language to our website, I've taken it away. At the end of the day, this is what the Armadillo references are about - the commonality of the great good place. The 'dillo brought people together in a strange sort of way - bikers, hippies, cowboys, students. Music was the great leveler. Community acupuncture brings people together in a similar sort of way. In our case, acupuncture is the great leveler (or maybe it's the recliners!). I never cease to be amazed as I look around the treatment room at the variety of folks there: the fireman, the teacher, the grandmother, the cancer patient, the musician, the mom, the job seeker...all doing their part, just by being here together, to make this the great good place it is.

So happy birthday, and
Good night Austin, Texas - wherever you are!

#OccupySouthAustinCommunityAcupuncture (or the cheesy bandwagon post; or the unlimitables)

2011-10-07T13:01:00.007-05:00

I don't really know the hashdot. Wait, hashtag apparently. I swung by city hall last night just to see what was happening, it was a nice night out after all. Now I don't really care to speculate here about what the Occupy movement (or post-post-post-grad school graduation party) really will mean for everyone when it's all said and done, but it definitely re-emphasized a lot of what South Austin Community Acupuncture, and all the other community acupuncture clinics, have been practicing for awhile now: People getting together in a big space, hanging out for awhile, looking for, and often finding something to be different by the end of it and coming back again to occupy and fill that space up another time. This is what makes community acupuncture effective: the consistency of the occupation. And the occupation of the big room is strong because even when only one person is there they are welcoming the many and when many are there they are welcoming the one.

The economic frustrations that are pushing the Occupy crowd are an element that pushed the community acupuncture movement. It makes acupuncture available at a cost that the 99% of people can actually afford. Acupuncturists often emphasize the need to actually get acupuncture to see it help. But help you can't afford isn't really going to do the job. So we've made acupuncture affordable and the most important part of that equation is that it's still effective at this affordable cost. Call us a factory that just sticks needles in people over and over. It's a factory that hums a lot. The waking-up-in-the-morning-like-you-want-to-wake-up “hum”. (You may have forgotten about it, but it is a real phenomenon.)

Patients have simple demands for large problems: more sleep; less sleep; less stuffy nose; make me poop; help this rash; prevent me from going ballistic on my co-workers; standing up without pain would be nice. We limit barriers to these demands when so many other avenues have come up short. These barriers are financial. They are physical. They are psychological. All those types of barriers that patients know about like only they can. So come, unlimit yourself. Bring a friend, occupy a recliner.

The Underbelly of the Deal

2011-09-30T09:21:00.004-05:00

I grew up in a flower shop. It was at the front of our house. My mom, who was widowed at 46 and still had four kids at home, ran it. These were my first lessons in business. She was (and is) an incredibly strong woman. From her I learned to stand up for myself and not take shit from people.

People often ask how the Groupon we did went. It went great. Even Groupon was surprised by how well we did, and we got a good number of new and dedicated customers out of it. That's why businesses run deals: to promote themselves.

What is not so great is dealing with a Groupon when the deal ends. Turns out, the end of a deal can really brings out the worst in people.

One woman called right as the deal was to expire and claimed she had called and left numerous messages, but because we had not returned her calls she could not get in on time.

Another called the last day of the deal, and said that other clinics had honored the Groupon as long as an appointment was scheduled by the expiration date. Clearly, a seasoned veteran at not using her Groupon on time, when I explained how we had decided to handle the missed deadline ($10 off first visit), she said, "So I'm not getting anything out of this." Huh. She could have gotten 50% out of it. Instead she chose no treatment and to loose $20 instead of just $10.

Then there was the woman who happened to be particularly - kind of crazily - high maintenance (we're not a high maintenance kind of place), who came on a friends Groupon for the allotted two treatments, and then got upset when we called her out when she tried to keep going on another of her friends Groupons. She acted like she thought what we were doing with how we run our clinic was such a great idea. In truth, I think she just liked getting something for free.

Another, who had used one treatment, but let the deadline pass on the other, declined her second treatment when we told her that past the expiration date we'd give her $5 off. People are funny. Apparently they'd rather get nothing and be disgruntled about not having the terms of a deal honored (terms they themselves are not honoring) than get something.

Yet another emailed and said she had never purchased a Groupon before, and so didn't know they expired - even though the first line of the deal is the expiration date. Come on now....

Probably one of the more fascinating (and yes, slightly annoying) things about this whole deal phenomenon is how people apparently don't even know what they are buying. They only know it's cheap. They don't read the terms of the deal, however brief. And they don't so much as click through the link to the businesses website to see if what they are getting into is even something they might want to do.

One woman was so aghast at being still with her own thoughts for a few minutes while she got acupuncture that she actually got angry. One of the weirdest things I've ever experienced as an acupuncturist for sure. I'm glad someone else was around to witness it.

So, where we're at in all of this is...if people continue to be assholes about their expired Groupons we're just going to shut the whole thing down and just call it over - because we're already a deal.

We are affordable. We are not, however, cheap. And we will not be cheapened by consumers running roughshod over us because their coupon expired. To quote a patient of mine, "Oh give me a break! ALL COUPONS EXPIRE."

Groupon ends Sept. 21

2011-09-16T14:18:00.001-05:00

For those of you who purchased a Groupon back in March, the deal ends Sept. 21st.
As of today 273 out of almost 500 purchasers have redeemed their Groupon, and about half of those have used both treatments (the deal was for two treatments). So here's how we're going to deal with stragglers:

If you failed to use your Groupon by Sept. 21 (that's 6 months after purchase), we'll give you a $10 credit towards your first visit. That's equal to waiving our new patient fee, and what we made on the Groupon in total per individual purchase. From there, we're back to our usual $15 - $40 sliding scale (you pick what you pay).

If you used one of your treatments, but not the second one, we'll give you a $5 credit towards that second treatment.

If you are an existing patient, but didn't read the terms of the deal and didn't catch the 'New Patient Only' part we'll give you a $10 credit as well if you haven't come in by the 21st. We were telling people they could use one treatment but they had to give the other one away...but we're kind of running out of time on that front now.

We'll honor these terms until the end of the year.
Hope to see you soon.

Reflections on Being 5: Part 1

2011-09-08T08:40:00.000-05:00

In a couple of months, it will be five years since South Austin Community Acupuncture first opened it’s doors for business. A good time to reflect on what we’ve created. Lately, one thing I’ve been thinking about a lot is how there are things unique to community acupuncture that we have kind of downplayed over the years - in part intentionally, and in part this is just how things evolved. There’s a lot involved here, so I’m going to take on chunks over the course of a few blogs. Here we go:

Community acupuncture as a return to tradition

One thing you will commonly see on many community acupuncture clinic web sites is some kind of statement about how community acupuncture is a return to how the medicine is traditionally practiced in Asia. I’ve never been to Asia so I don’t know. I make no claims to tradition. From what I hear though, I suspect treatment in China, Japan, or Korea while not uncommonly lacking in privacy, doesn’t particularly look like what we’re doing here. So, even though it’s central to what we do, I don’t make too big deal out of the fact that we treat in a group setting. To us here at SACA it’s as normal as anything, and we want it to be as normal as anything to our patients. Besides, we see tons of people who have never had acupuncture anyway, so as far as they know what we are doing is normal. I like to let people sort of put together the pieces of how this is a good idea at their own pace. Most get it. A very few do not.

Another aspect of this whole notion of community acupuncture being a return to how acupuncture is traditionally practiced, is the stated reliance on traditional methods of taking the pulse and looking at the tongue rather than talking, which you also might see on the occasional clinic website. While this is a handy way to signal that not talking too much in the community acupuncture setting is helpful, and to give an idea about what goes on in a community acupuncture clinic, I have deliberately shied away from such statements because in truth it’s not what I do – at least not consistently.

I am trained in these traditional diagnostic methods – pulse and tongue – and my process is an ongoing one of corroborating what I see on a day to day basis with my learning. The problem with these methods is they are incredibly subjective and often enough don’t match with the patients symptoms. Sometimes they are very informative, sometimes not. In a sense this is the biggest challenge and one of the most unique aspects of Chinese medicine - this being ok with inconsistencies. I am to a certain extent. Bodies are not consistent. Why would a medicine that reflects the natural order of things be? My understanding also is that really, these methods (assessing pulse and tongue) are historically more the domain of herbalism anyway (which is usually when I use them).

So I’ve downplayed this whole, “This is how acupuncture is traditionally done” thing, and I’m ok with that.

I actually see community acupuncture as a movement away from tradition.

The possibilities are endless and a recliner makes all the difference

2011-09-07T11:30:00.008-05:00

I started volunteering here after they had been open for almost a year. I remember there was a one-year anniversary party with a miniature horse and he stepped on my foot pretty righteously as I helped get him into the SUV that was going to take him back to the farm. I knew that was as good a sign as any that this was the right place for me. Wally and Kelly set up a wonderful acupuncture clinic on South Lamar and then Wally kept it running strong mostly by himself, with only me or the occasional volunteer to be around to keep him company and hear him rant.

Fast forward 4 years. Somewhere in the hubbub of last night I gave my 1,000th treatment at South Austin Community Acupuncture. Snap. My mind is still wrapping itself in and around and through those zeroes. That's like 15,000 needles. I remember my first day treating here. I saw 3 people in 8 hours, and I was on top of the world. Then I didn't see anyone the next two days. Awkward. Then I saw 5 people in one day and that felt like the water was just up to my shoulders. Now I see 5 people in a shift and I feel like I should be doing more. I look back now and check up on some of those first patients of mine. Some haven't come back. Some come and see Wally. And some still come and see me at the clinic from time to time. And that's the way it goes here.

Occasionally, patients will ask me how long I've been “doing this.” I try to reassure them (and myself) by telling them that, I've been treating out of here since February but I have been giving treatments in the student clinic at school for three years. But let's give this some perspective: over my time in the student clinic while in acupuncture school, I saw 450 people, or just slightly upwards of that. So in 7 months at SACA, I have treated more than double the number of patients that I saw in 3 years. Some more perspective: Wally and Kelly opened this clinic up in the fall of 2006. In their first seven months (11/06-6/07) they saw just over a 1,000 people combined. Note: Wally now gives about 2,000 treatments in 7 months, so I have a lot to work up to.

I'm not bringing this point up to brag, although I do feel immensely proud and fortunate that I am in this position. I'm bringing it up to show what is possible. I knew almost immediately that community acupuncture clicked with me. Its concepts of affordability and healing with other people instead of in isolation from them, re-invigorated the motivations I had for getting onto this side of the health care equation in the first place. I was just lucky I happened on to the place as soon as I did. I may not practice this way for the rest of my life, but at the moment I can't think of a better way to provide acupuncture to people. So thank you community acupuncture model. Thank you Wally and Kelly for starting the clinic and letting me come in and work here. Thank you patients for coming in. I'm having a great time.

Coherent Energy, Liquid Crystallinity and Acupuncture

2011-08-31T22:42:00.000-05:00

OK. Back to that wacky science stuff...

The Institute of Science in Society (ISIS) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1999 by Mae-Wan Ho and Peter Saunders dedicated to providing critical and accessible scientific information to the public and to promoting social accountability and ecological sustainability in science.

Here's a link to a talk about acupuncture given by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho to the British Acupuncture Society in 1999.

Enjoy.

Relax, the clock is yours

2011-08-25T16:17:00.001-05:00

One question patients often have when getting an acupuncture treatment is “How long am I supposed to have the needles in?” An important question when it comes to working on health and your own personal time. Some acupuncturists will cite classic texts that say qi circulates so many times a day in the body and therefore you need a minimum of about 30 minutes with needles to at least let the qi circulate once. Some current research indicates that it takes about 10-20 minutes to get the nervous system into gear. So generally we recommend that range of 20-30 minutes as a good minimum.

There is a kick to the nervous system (which we'll explore in future blogs) via the prick of the acupuncture needles and the amount of time it takes to register is probably fairly consistent from person to person, but what comes after that is hard to tell (i.e., everyone has a different experience with acupuncture, and often has a different one each time they come). So we wouldn't want to disturb that process by coming in and removing the needles while you are in mid-acupuncture stream.

Many acupuncturists are restricted by table space and that oftentimes determines how long your acupuncture treatment will last. They schedule appointments every 60-90 minutes in a private room and so when that time is up and the next patient is arriving, they need to be wrapping up your time. But that space-time restriction is not normally a concern for a community acupuncture clinic, which leads even acupuncture veterans perplexed when we ask them if they are done with their acupuncture session.

But I have just seen the individual response during an acupuncture treatment vary so much that I hesitate to apply a definitive end time. Some folks can only sit still for 20 minutes and that’s it. They keep a relaxed eye on the clock and know when those 20 minutes are up. Others can stay in a chair for 2 hours and you can count the tree rings grow while they are in their recliner. Sometimes patients want to be out after 45 minutes or so just to keep time from slipping away.

Oftentimes patients are coming to de-stress or get a “tune-up” or embark upon a mystical journey of rejuvenation. Far be it from me to know exactly how long that should take. I have had acupuncture treatments that last 20 minutes, but feel like 90; and other times I have been in a chair with needles for 90 minutes and it feels like 20. That may be all in my head, but we have obviously entered a world where we realize that what happens in our heads is no longer so separate from what is happening in our bodies.

The Story of the La-Z-Boy

2011-08-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to the story of the famed La-Z-Boy reclining chair, the secret weapon of any community acupuncture clinic.

Sacred Cows: The Long Version

2011-08-18T16:11:00.005-05:00

This all started with my trip to MD Anderson's Integrative Oncology Conference for acupuncturists. What I experienced there was the unrelenting yet thoughtful questioning of everything. I found this to be incredibly refreshing. This is very different from how acupuncture is traditionally and commonly taught.

I was actually attempting to take on the subject of patient communication last time I wrote (after a patient asked me if I had studied acupuncture!?), but the juxtaposition of what I was presented with at a science based conference on acupuncture, and a perusal of some rather ordinary acupuncture reading materials led to something bigger. This is difficult stuff to write about and I have struggled to tie it all together. It makes people uncomfortable.

This discomfort lies in the fact that I am touching on acupuncture's sacred cows - a 'sacred cow' being something considered (perhaps unreasonably) immune from question or criticism (for those not up on your bovine idioms).

If you look back at the articles I referenced last time, despite their entirely different perspectives, I think they both speak to a wont of some special knowledge or ability. In the piece on research standards, the question is posed whether the usual scientific methods can even capture this knowledge, and the Master Tung piece is presented as simply knowledge beyond question.

Obviously, when you seek out a licensed professional of any kind, you do so because you seek their expertise. But what I'm talking about here is not just the knowledge of a trained professional. I'm talking about the exaltation of a body of knowledge.

At SACA we actually work hard to keep things down to earth, and to make acupuncture something more ordinary, and more accessible. As such we sometimes have to negotiate patients' preconceptions about what we do. The people I work with think I'm about half nuts as I try to articulate these concepts, as apparently do some of my patients as well, but I think what I'm writing about here is central to operating a community acupuncture clinic.

Why?

Because I think it is important to put acupuncture in some kind of perspective, and I think community acupuncture sort of builds this perspective into the model. Acupuncture doesn't have to be complicated to be effective. Community acupuncture very simply places emphasis on access to treatment and frequency of treatment over practitioner mystique. No sacred cows here. Frequency trumps cleverness. I came to practice this way because I felt that the community acupuncture model was free of the trappings that have kept acupuncture obscure and inaccessible - to both practitioners and patients. I still feel this way.

So again, the ultimate motivation for my getting into all this was patient perception and expectation - which is pretty fascinating, and only occasionally concerning. What I'm learning is that the occasional interactions of concern all seem to arise out of patients coming in with some kind of preconceived notions about what acupuncture is about. Interestingly, these are typically people who have never had acupuncture yet strangely want to hold us to our sacred cows. Sorry if I've burst any bubbles.

I'm a pretty straight forward and not particularly mystically inclined person. I practice a form of medicine that is largely historically based rather than evidence based, and I am intrigued by the intersection of these two worlds. If my training and experience tells me acupuncture will not solve a problem this doesn't mean I don't "believe" in acupuncture. I strive to discern reality clearly, not merely impose my beliefs on it. It's OK for acupuncture to not be everything.

Ultimately any authority I possess is born of direct experience. And my direct experience of acupuncture is that I've been told a lot about acupuncture, but in fact very little of what I have been told do I actually know to be true by my direct experience. I'm not doubting acupuncture or my own abilities when I say this. I am questioning if it works in quite the way we are taught. I have always questioned this.

Nick Kurtz, a community acupuncturist from Kansas recently gave a report on the CAN website about the 2011 NADA conference. 'Dr. Michael Smith had some choice words for acupuncturists: He talked about how the acupuncture books ignore current research in favor of thousand year old texts and that that is completely unacceptable for health care providers. If we accepted the research then the books would get real thin real fast, and training would be simpler and cheaper, and more people would be helped. He talked about how the research shows that point location does not matter and that different styles of acupuncture and sham acupuncture are all effective - and if all that is true then most acupuncturists don't understand how acupuncture works. He said acupuncture right now is more like a religion then medicine, and acupuncture books are more like the bible than a medical textbook'

Those sacred cows again.

Now I gotta tell you, writing stuff like I'm writing has been cause for great debate around here. Concern has been expressed that what I'm saying will be construed as an acupuncturist expressing skepticism about acupuncture. That's not the case at all. I have no doubt as to the profundity of this medicine. And my intention in no way is to disparage the rich historical body of knowledge on which it is based. I'm friends with Will Morris, and I use some Master Tung stuff in my practice. However, that what I'm saying is so challenging is to me indicative of how hard it is for the acupuncture profession to question itself - and that needs to change.

More on the wacky world of science later....

No Better than a Placebo

2011-08-11T11:07:00.006-05:00

There was a study recently reported that compared St. John's Wort and Citalopram (Celexa) to a placebo. Now, the study only looked at “minor depression” so we cannot interpret anything for other classifications of depression. But congratulations to St. John's Wort for being of equal effectiveness as an FDA approved, laboratory-derived pharmaceutical. However, as new (and older) books have been highlighting, this type of finding is pretty common.

Chinese herbal medicine also has various remedies with similar usage histories as St. John's Wort. We choose from one of several base formulas, based upon the symptom information a patient provides and some subtler pieces of information—this is what we're taking into account when we check a patient's tongue and pulses. In China they've conducted lots of studies on many of these classic formulas, but oftentimes it's really hard to trust the few findings we get wind of. In so many you get this “80% of patients reported some improvement in their condition so this formula is obviously awesome” result. But hopefully there is going to be a trend towards conducting more studies of Chinese herbs (and acupuncture, Wally) here in the U.S. For example, another recent study looked at using an herbal formula to treat hot flashes in post-menopausal women. While the study showed that they did not produce a statistically significant advantage over a placebo, it is encouraging to see this investigative process happening and hopefully see it be refined to take into account better prescribing methods for Chinese herbal formulas.

So someday, someone will get around to looking at some of the herbal formulas Chinese herbal medicine uses to address “diseases” such as minor depression. Those studies may also find that they are no better than a placebo. But that will probably mean that the Chinese herbs are also as effective as St. John's Wort or whatever antidepressant medication they go up against. And perhaps in that hopefully-not-too-distant “someday” acupuncture and Chinese herbs will find at least a minimal amount of funding that will save us from having to work mainly in this direction.

A Worldview Informed by Positivism?

2011-08-08T13:02:00.004-05:00

Communicating about acupuncture is no simple thing.

I think in part this is a result of how we acupuncturists are trained to think (or perhaps not think) about acupuncture, and in part, patient perception and expectation about something that most know little about- but that's another blog.

First, about acupuncturists…Let me give a couple of examples of contemporary acupuncture thinking.

I read an article recently in Acupuncture Today. It was titled ‘Master Tung’s Five Zang Channel System and Clinical Applications’. In truth, the piece was pretty lacking in substantive content. There were some themes running through the piece though. It spoke of a system based on wisdom inherited from ancestors, the “secret” memorized – passed down by family oral tradition; the effectiveness of which was “confirmed completely” by a large number of undocumented clinical cases; the importance of this work demonstrated clearly by a few anecdotal stories of cases and a couple of self published books by students of the master; and some indication that the true meaning is inevitably to some degree lost in translation to English. Not a lot to go on there…

Another is a piece published in The American Acupuncturist by William Morris, president of AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine – located here in Austin. It is titled ‘Standards for Reporting Acupuncture Research’. In this piece the author outlines current research standards, but the gist really seems to be the author's take on “positivism as a worldview and how it informs the practice of evidence based medicine”. The author states, “While Chinese medicine adopts principles that can be constructed as laws, theories such as 5 Phases and yin-yang do not comport with a contemporary scientific construction of laws.” He concludes with the statement, “There may be a question whether the worldview informed by positivism is a point of view which captures the knowledges of acupuncture and East Asian medicine best.”

Hmmm...

Positivism (I had to look it up) refers to "a theory that theology and metaphysics are earlier imperfect modes of knowledge and that positive knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations as verified by the empirical sciences" (Websters). So a worldview informed by positivism is essentially a worldview informed by scientific inquiry.

So I sort of don’t get it. On the one hand the author outlines standards developed thus far so that acupuncture may be studied more effectively, and on the other he essentially questions whether the scientific method can capture the knowledge of the medicine.

One of these articles reports on a traditional lineage approach to learning, the other a modern scientific approach. Both are more than just a little obscure, and both exemplify the challenges acupuncturists face in moving the field forward, and the challenge of communicating meaningfully about what we do as acupuncturists.

Somehow the field of acupuncture has got to reconcile the disparities between Chinese traditional culture and the modern world. This is a problem not unique to traditional medicine. It is also an acknowledged problem for modern science as China comes to the fore as a global leader.

I’m not saying everything we do as clinicians needs to be 100% science based or communicated in scientific language, but I do think it is high time we begin to more broadly question the body of knowledge on which acupuncture practice is based. We at least need to come to terms with what we are talking about. Are we talking about philosophy or science? Are we talking about something we know or what we believe? Fundamentally it’s hard to talk about acupuncture because in large part - if we’re honest with ourselves - we really don't know very much about it at all despite a historical record spanning centuries. Simply claiming metaphysical superiority to reductionist bourgeois methods ain't gonna cut it.

There, I said it.

Sleep on it

2011-08-04T00:12:00.004-05:00

We treat a lot of patients for insomnia at South Austin Community Acupuncture. Most people have dealt with it at some point. Sometimes it pales in comparison to all the other events in one's life while at other times it is the axis of all our other problems.

In nosing around I came across something in the Harvard Mental Health Letter, which basically seemed like the biomedical protocol for dealing with insomnia. It ran over the use of cognitive behavioral therapy and of course medications. There are caveats of using therapy first and drugs second and if drugs then low doses and for short duration. But I wonder what the reality of that is. There was some reference to relaxation and reconditioning.

The whole reason I looked up insomnia in the first place was because I came across another different article in the American Journal of Public Health: “The Medicalization of Sleeplessness: A Public Health Concern”. The abstract states: “ sleeplessness complaints and insomnia diagnoses increased over time and were far outpaced by prescriptions for sedative hypnotics” (italics mine). The article is an overview of the author's dissertation and reflects that “[p]hysicians were cognizant and critical of medicalization. They conceptualized insomnia as a symptom, part of the aging process, or a reaction to stress - not a disease.”

Maybe we should have a few more steps in between the statement: “I can't sleep” and the prescription pad. A “public health concern” that is “not a disease” doesn't need to be attacked with pharmaceuticals as often as it is. I would like to see the “Relaxation Techniques” and “Reconditioning” (really poor choice of words, that) sections from Harvard's protocol explode as treatment options: get some exercise, meditate, take a tai chi or yoga class, learn to dance, learn to paint. Try some acupuncture. Learn what sleeping with strangers is about and how it often leads to better sleep on your own. And if you already know, tell a friend that it can probably help them, too.

Introducing Mike Sobin: super-blogger

2011-08-02T16:49:00.003-05:00

Many of you already know Mike from his years working at the clinic as a student, and now as a Licensed acupuncturist. Well...now we're turning him loose, keyboard a-blazing, right here, right now, in the blogoshpere. Enjoy!

The Conference of Things That Make You Feel Good

2011-07-31T13:39:00.006-05:00

Fresh off the integrative oncology conference at MD Anderson in Houston for acupuncturists, massage therapists, and yoga instructors... This was the 7th year of the program, but actually the first year for acupuncture to be included. It was an excellent program and an incredible opportunity.

The message from the leaders of integrative medicine: We embrace what you do and want to know more about it, but operating on a purely historical basis is not enough. We will use anything that works, but we need evidence.

Personally, I think that's great. But what's even greater is that MD Anderson is doing significant research to build that body of evidence. They have a multi-center phase III trial coming up on acupuncture for dry mouth due to radiation, for example. They are researching toad venom and other medicinal compounds for their anti-tumor properties.This is all research of the highest caliber.

The presenters were all excellent. They shared what they know, and what they don't know, and provided a solid training in using acupuncture as part of an integrated approach to care for cancer patients, while also looking at acupuncture's place in the bigger picture of the medical system.

It was a little daunting. There is a lot of work to be done.

I think it is really important for acupuncturists to keep straight that clinical practice is one thing and research another. Some practitioners I think wrongly perceive research as a threat to what they do somehow. At the same time, many of the acupuncturists in attendance seemed almost naively hungry to participate and to be included by mainstream medicine. One even sheepishly offered to treat patients for free if MD Anderson would work with her. It was kind of strange.

To me, what I heard pointed squarely to the need for acupuncture education to improve. As a field, we have got to pull ourselves out of antiquity and learn to embrace thinking critically about what we are doing. It's ok. Acupuncture is not going to go away, and we don't have to lose our collective soul in the process. And sure, not everything can be plugged into scientific models. That's ok too, and the bright minds at MD Anderson certainly get this. I think acupuncturists tend to operate from a place of bias that turns out to actually create quite a limiting perspective. This conference was a wonderful opportunity to broaden that perspective.

7th Annual Oncology Training Conference for Acupuncturists, Massage Therapists, and Yoga Teachers

2011-07-24T21:53:00.001-05:00

Wally will be out of the office Wednesday, July 27 thru Friday, July 29 to attend MD Anderson's integrative oncology seminar and some family time. Mike will be keeping the saloon open - our regular business hours - and Wally will return for Saturday's usual fun and mayhem.

The Texas acupuncture community has lost a friend and supporter

2011-07-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

Charng-Jian Jin

July 16, 1948 - July 16, 2011

Babies Come When They're Ready

2011-07-19T08:08:00.003-05:00

All too often childbirth is treated not as a natural event, but as a medical problem to be solved. We see too many pregnant women without complicating factors who are nearing giving birth that come to acupuncture in an attempt to expedite labor because medical induction is looming for no apparent reason. Heard this piece on NPR driving home...full story is here

VOTE FOR US

2011-07-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

We are not a tattoo parlor or a guitar shop or a record store or a 24-hour eatery….

But we are as Austin as any of them, so take a second to vote for us in the ever-descriptive “WILD CARD” category of this year’s AUSTIN CHRONICLE: BEST OF AUSTIN poll

Go to Austinchronicle.com/bestof
All the way at the bottom of the page is the WILD CARD category. Ballots must be submitted by Monday, July 18^th

So much for Integrative Care

2011-05-16T17:57:00.025-05:00

As many of you know, my mother Georgia - age 93 - recently broke her femur, and had to undergo surgery to repair the break. She is back at her place of residence, a place called the Oasis which offers a range of assisted living options. My mom lives in a small wing of the place dedicated to folks with memory loss and dementia related issues.

Jeff Jones, the Nurse Practitioner from Dr. Shiva Satish's clinic - Fort Bend Geriatrics, is my mother's primary point of medical contact. I like Jeff, and I like Dr. Satish a lot.

Today: not so much. I spoke to Jeff today about a short list of questions/concerns my family wanted me to touch base with him about. One thing I wanted to know was if he could write orders to the staff of the facility directing them to give herbs from me.

Specifically, I was interested in giving her something to help her leg mend. As it stands, it appears unlikely she will ever walk again...so we're kind of hoping for a miracle, and hoping to do all we can to facilitate said miracle. Also, I wanted to give her a formula for her hemorrhoids - which subsequent to taking opiates for pain and anesthesia, are really bad. The poor woman is 93. I figure let's do what we can to make her comfortable!

Jeff flat out said no: "It's not part of medicine."

So from one licensed medical professional to another apparently a dialog will not even be allowed because what I do is not what he does. Great. Doesn't matter that this is my area of training, or that I am licensed by the state board of MEDICAL examiners, or that it is my own mother we are talking about.

Thanks Jeff.

What it is.

2011-05-14T09:17:00.000-05:00

This week I got a cold. Because I take gobs of herbs, this is usually about a two day affair for me and I'm done. Thursday afternoon, I was hoping to make my evening shift, but wasn't quite up to it. I was sitting at the desk eating my Curra's chicken soup, attempting to re-direct my patients to see Mike, when the first patient - someone's mother from out of town - walked in. I hadn't been able to intercept her in time. She opted to forgo getting a treatment altogether, even though this is something she rarely has the opportunity to do, rather than see another practitioner. Now sure, I appreciate a certain degree of patient loyalty, but seriously....The thing about it in this case, is from what I recall, I have always just done extremely simple treatments with this woman and just let her relax. In other words, if she thinks I've been doing some kind of profound healing on her, she is sadly mistaken. I'm putting needles in probably about 8 or so of some of the most commonly used acupuncture points and leaving her alone. If their's anything profound going on, it's hers.

I'm writing this because this is exactly where patients, and practitioners, miss the point about what community acupuncture is. It's not about me, and my prowess as a practitioner, nor is it about the other guy working here being able to match or exceed me in treatment efficacy or ability. It's about getting some needles in and just being - preferably in a room full of other people doing likewise.

So I was sad to see this woman not get a treatment. It tells me on some level maybe she never got what was going on here anyway.

I'm including here a link to Lisa Rohleder's opening address at the first annual Community Acupuncture Network conference because, as usual, she says it better....Here you go: Right here

Mother's Day Gift Certificates Available

2011-05-04T18:48:00.002-05:00

I just spent the past week in the hospital with my 93 year old mother, Georgia.

Georgia broke her femur just below the hip joint, and against some pretty slim odds (her heart function is at about 30%) she survived surgery. She might not walk again because her old bones are so brittle, but at least she will be able to transferred and such without being in excruciating pain. We said our goodbyes more than once. There were moments of gravity and moments of levity, but mostly there was just a lot of love.

So this Sunday is Mother's Day.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: There is nothing quite like acupuncture for stress relief. The act of mothering is unending work, and acupuncture offers a wonderful respite for tired, stressed, overworked moms.

Mother's Day Gift Certificates are available now.

Mike is a miracle worker

2011-04-12T22:53:00.002-05:00

Ordinary Miracles Workers

2011-04-05T12:05:00.001-05:00

I got a chuckle out of a recent Yelp review in which my associate Mike Sobin was called a miracle worker. This was funny to me in part because I know the patient who wrote the review, and in part because I too had just been declared a miracle worker in the Yelp review just prior to this one!

Now, don't get me wrong: I've known Mike a few years now, and no doubt, the dude is miraculous... but this kind of stuff is a little concerning.

Folks, we are not miracle workers, and the whole notion is in fact one that is fairly in opposition to the whole community acupuncture ethic. I know, on the one hand, maybe calling someone a miracle worker in a yelp review is just a figure of speech. On the other hand though, it very much misrepresents what we are doing and what we are about.

At South Austin Community Acupuncture we strive to serve our community by offering acupuncture and ancillary services in such a way that a broader population can access them, and we basically strive to do good work. Sure, we are all about getting results, and we appreciate a favorable review - but it really is important to keep things in perspective.

One of the great stigmas of traditional Asian medicines (as I see it) is this notion that if positive results are obtained they are somehow "miraculous". This kind of thinking actually serves no one. In fact, positive results often take some effort and are more commonly anything but miraculous. And yes, sometimes all it takes is a treatment...but, again it is not by virtue of acupuncture being miraculous that results are achieved. It's usually much more mundane than that.

This way of thinking also points to the problem around how we value acupuncture. Does the value of acupuncture lie in the fact that it is miraculous? I think not. The whole point of community acupuncture is to wipe away all these notions that acupuncture is some kind of rarefied thing performed by practitioners with some kind of secret knowledge, and to stress that acupuncture is in fact rather ordinary and can be used for all manner of ordinary things by all manner of ordinary people.

A Taste of Happiness

2011-02-23T22:26:00.001-06:00

As many of you know, before becoming an acupuncturist my background was in music. I don't get out as much as I used to, but I try to stay involved with truly quality projects where I can. My friend Lisa Richard's music is just such a project.
We're working on bringing a cd into the world. For me, it is a labor of love and I wouldn't even remotely expect compensation for my part. I'm honored that Lisa, and her bass player husband Jeff May value me enough to press me into service.

To bring this project to fruition will, however, take money. Money that none of us neessarily have. Mostly we're doing it on the cheap, but when it comes to things like mixing and mastering we're gonna have to pay for quality. To fund this portion of the project, Lisa has set up a kickstarter page where you - yes you - can make your contribution as a patron of the arts...

Just go here, open your wallets and your hearts, and enjoy the rewards of your participation.

How Getting Poked Can Change The World

2011-02-17T17:34:00.000-06:00

Here's a great article from Canada about one of our fellow Community Acupuncture Clinics:
http://mindingyourownbusiness.ca/

So a patient walks into a community acupuncture clinic...

2011-02-15T14:32:00.000-06:00

...and they are the only one there. "Oh, I've come at a good time," they say.

Well, actually, no.

This is something that's come up here and there over the years, and a couple of times recently...and something that certainly merits addressing.

The bottom line is this: If you are pleased because you've got the community acupuncture clinic to yourself, you are sadly missing the point. Community acupuncture is truly a people powered endeavor, requiring community support and high volumes of patients to be viable. It is not simply about charging less for treatments. Far from it...

So, if you come in, and it's slow...please, do what you can to change that. Tell the world.

We're going to be 5 at the end of this year. I'd like to still be around in another five years.

MAS in the house!

2011-02-10T19:03:00.000-06:00

NEW YEAR = NEW ACUPUNCTURIST & NEW EXPANDED HOURS

2011-01-28T12:14:00.003-06:00

Mike Sobin, whom many of you have known from our front desk, recently graduated and got his acupuncture license. As a result, we will be able to be open more days and longer hours.
Mike has been with the clinic since 2007, and is a welcome asset as a practitioner. You can rest assured you are in good hands.

So...beginning Monday, February 7th, South Austin Community Acupuncture will begin experimenting with new hours, as follows:

Mondays 9-5
Tues/Wed/Thurs 10-8
Fridays 9-5
Saturdays 10-2

This adds Mondays, some more morning hours, and more evening hours.
We hope this serves you well.

We'll be refining this, and making adjustments to who is here when as we go, with the ultimate goal of being open 8am-8pm. To warrant this we need lots of warm bodies, so come on down and tell your friends and family.

9000 Needles 2nd screening

2011-01-20T13:46:00.001-06:00

A 2nd screening of the movie '9000 Needles' will happen this Sunday, Jan. 23rd at 12:30.
Thanks to the TAAOM, the Alamo, and Doug Dearth/One in a Row Productions.
Proceeds to benefit the Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and the Devin Dearth Foundation.

9000 Needles

2010-12-21T12:38:00.000-06:00

The Texas Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine is proud to present a screening of the award winning documentary '9000 Needles'. One screening only: Sunday, January 16th, 4:00pm at the Alamo Village on Anderson Lane. The director, Doug Dearth, will be in attendance for Q & A following the film.

You can purchase tickets online here

Lisa Rohleder on acupuncture for pain management

2010-11-12T09:14:00.001-06:00

Here's a great post from Working Class Acupuncture's Lisa Rohleder on pain management and community acupuncture. She really nails it on a few points (no pun intended): Read it here.

Thoughts and prayers

2010-11-06T00:17:00.003-05:00

The night began with the forgone conclusion that there is nothing on television.

By the end of the night I had watched fascinating programs on American politics, the marsh lands of Iraq, Navajo rug making, opera, sports...all on PBS of course, and all slightly inspiring me in some weird way in relation to what I do day in and day out - which is practice a medicine which is of a culture in all honesty I barely know, that involves sticking needles in people, and using plants as medicine. What a life, huh?

The most profound statement of the night came from a Navajo rug maker. She was speaking of the tools used in making wool and rugs, and said, "They all have life giving names." She contrasted that against making rugs by machines, which she pointed out don't have thoughts and prayers.

It was a theme reiterated throughout the evening in different ways, whatever the culture, or the medium.

Made me think about how much the Chinese and the Native Americans are alike in their respect of their ancestors, and the relevance of this notion of "life giving names" to Chinese medicine and how we imbue meaning...

New shirts!

2010-11-05T23:58:00.000-05:00

Looky here now:

Rant

2010-10-29T12:45:00.004-05:00

A couple of issues or so back, the New England Journal of Medicine published a clinical vignette on acupuncture and the treatment of chronic back pain. They also reviewed the literature and mentioned the German studies where so called "sham" acupuncture worked nearly as well as so called "real" acupuncture. Both the real and the sham involved the insertion of needles into the body.

The conclusion: real acupuncture has not been demonstrated to be more effective than sham acupuncture, and so might just be placebo.

This blows my mind just a little bit. I propose that the question raised by such a study is not whether or not acupuncture is placebo, but what is "real" acupuncture? To my mind they are drawing a conclusion before even beginning to study the problem. There is a bias towards assuming what you do not understand must be placebo. I find that to be just a little bit ridiculous. It seems to me before you can study real acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture, you might first need to understand what real acupuncture is....

Almost as striking were the comments sent in by readers. One was from several Chinese doctors saying basically if you're going to study this stuff, you have to put it in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Another was from a reader who questioned the ethics of recommending a course of treatment that could well be placebo. He makes the point that a course of 10-12 treatments as proposed in the vignette could cost $1000-$1500.

I think these two comments frame nicely the problems this medicine faces in our country, and how community acupuncture potentially offers sensible solutions.

First of all, I don't buy the notion that acupuncture must be performed strictly adhering to the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine to work, or to be studied effectively. There are too many ways of doing acupuncture that are all effective to some degree or another, and they are not all TCM. In fact, too much of what is taught in acupuncture schools is taught without question, and much of what is taught probably should probably be framed in more of an anthropological perspective. I'm not dismissing TCM, it's just it's hard to see how we will ever arrive at clear inquiry if it is ever necessary to be self referential in order to be valid. To attempt to scientifically study acupuncture through the lens of TCM is to distort the picture from the beginning. There are too many cultural assumptions of validity. Just because it's agreed upon doesn't make it science.

Now to be fair, there is more to Chinese medicine than acupuncture. If I were treating someone's low back pain, chances are I would use cupping, and chances are I'd use herbs. Chances are too, I wouldn't even put a needle in their back! None the less, we've got to start cutting through the exoticism that surrounds this medicine if we truly want it to be widely used. As it stands, most recent surveys indicate about 1% of the population using acupuncture in a given year.

Essentially you've got the white folk saying we don't understand it so it must be placebo, and the Chinese saying you don't understand it because you're doing it wrong and so you'll never understand it.
I think everyone is demonstrating a lack of perspective, but I am none the less hopeful that over time meaningful inquiry will emerge.

Theory and philosophy are one thing, clinical practice another, and scientific inquiry another thing still.

The second comment, about sending someone off for $1000-$1500 worth of treatment indeed raises some questions, and they are obvious ones: At that rate, these would be $100 to $150 per session treatments. Seriously, who can afford to do that? This is precisely where acupuncturists so often get in a bind. Unless the patient is wealthy, what likely will happen is the patient will likely have expectations around treatment that probably aren't realistic - in part because they can't afford a course of treatment, and in part because they are going to assume you have some special powers if you're charging those rates. The whole thing fosters unrealistic perceptions and expectations about what acupuncture is, and how it works both on the part of the patient and the practitioner.

Acupuncture is either going to help, or it's not. And if it doesn't, it's not because the patient was a non-believer, and it's probably not because the practitioner failed to make the correct TCM zang fu diagnosis either...zang who?

Onward

Busy week

2010-10-25T21:11:00.003-05:00

Busy week last week giving free treatments for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day, which we celebrated all week.

It went well...

Mostly it seemed folks were genuinely interested in checking out acupuncture and the clinic, and were supportive of the work we're doing here.

Also did a health fair Thursday at the Texas Workforce Commission. Nice folks, and great hospitality.

Honestly, people are kind of funny about acupuncture, but again, it seemed there were a few who were genuinely interested in what we're doing here at South Austin Community Acupuncture.

I also saw some people at the TWC health fair I hadn't seen in a while, like the Jonci Jensen, a naturopath in town I respect greatly, and Antoinette from Texas Seniors' Guides - an invaluable resource for the elderly, or those who have aging family members or friends.

Weekend spent cleaning up the website for hours and days...

work

2010-10-13T08:36:00.002-05:00

Que Sera Sera

2010-10-10T00:23:00.000-05:00

On Friday, Oct 1st, we got a 6am call from my mom's assisted living in Austin saying they thought she was having a heart attack. Georgia is 92 years old. We met her at the emergency room at Seton Southwest, and there were definitely moments where we thought we were losing her. After a weekend in the hospital, she prevailed however, and we moved her back to her hometown of Richmond, Texas to a skilled nursing facility. Here's a couple of pics of G, in her new digs...still smiling, still singing 'Que Sera Sera'.

Mother and daughters

SACA in Austin Monthly

2010-10-07T08:45:00.005-05:00

Well...thanks Austin Monthly.
You almost got it.

Tobacco, Alcohol, Recreational Drugs, and Acupuncture... Seriously?

2010-10-05T09:04:00.001-05:00

Acupuncture is a process...

2010-09-22T17:39:00.005-05:00

Just as there is a slow food movement, what community acupuncture clinics are doing is a movement towards slow medicine. Acupuncture is gentle, safe, and effective for a wide range of disorders - but generally speaking it takes some doing. As in, you have to actually get acupuncture to benefit from it...it is very much a process.

It's not like we just put the needles in 'just so' and you are magically fixed (well...sometimes). More often than not some kind of course of treatment is required.

One of THE central ideas behind the sliding scale fee structure of South Austin Community Acupuncture is to price treatment such that ordinary people can afford to get acupuncture as often or for as long as they need to get great results.

Why am I saying this - again?

Because: I have had the experience of patients who seemingly understand that their course of treatment is going to be a process - they tell me they are not looking for a quick fix, and that they are ready to do whatever it takes to solve their problem that has been plaguing them for years. Then they come three or four times and disappear...

Mostly, people show up when they have an acute something going on, or when they just feel like getting acupuncture. Then there's a handful that come long term - some for years.

But I'm not writing this for the folks who have already figured out how to best use acupuncture for themselves. I am writing this to give some perspective specifically to those who maybe are not familiar with acupuncture, or those who tried it once or twice and decided it didn't work...

Many acupuncturists charge $70 or more for a single treatment. At South Austin Community Acupuncture you could get four treatments for that amount of money - or literally a months worth of treatments for the cost of one single treatment at other clinics. Put yet another way, you could come for 6 MONTHS for what it would cost you to go 6 WEEKS elsewhere...By doing this we are making it possible for you to get acupuncture over a period of time and really help you with your problem.

This is huge! In fact it is the elephant in the treatment room.

The community acupuncture people are the only people I've seen have the courage, and honesty, and common sense to point out that maybe the most important thing about acupuncture is not the prowess of the practitioner, but rather the most important thing is simply getting acupuncture.

Getting acupuncture...

Sure, some have more experience or training than others - but at the end of the day acupuncture is at heart a simple yet profound folk medicine. It is not magic! Chance's are it's not gonna work any better if your acupuncturist studied with a Daoist priest who traces his lineage back to 2AD...It's gonna work better if you get it - often enough, and/or long enough.

So, I encourage folks with chronic, stubborn problems to stay with it. You have a unique opportunity with community acupuncture to actually use acupuncture to your best advantage. Things that took a lifetime, or years to develop are not going to be fixed with two or three treatments. Give it some time, and enjoy the process....

Hosptal visit

2010-09-18T23:32:00.002-05:00

I had a great experience today.

A patient I had seen a while back called me about her mother, who was in the hospital - readmitted after some post surgical complications. Namely, continued unexplained vomiting. As it was told to me, the doctors could not quite figure out why this was happening.

More to the point of this writing...the daughter contacted me today before I went to treat her mom to give me a heads up that while my coming had been cleared with the hospital, her dad did not approve. I was warned that he might give me an earful.

Upon my arrival, he made a bee line to me and we took our conversation into the hall. I enjoyed our exchange greatly, and have great respect for this man.

He basically wanted me to know that he was not into any bullshit. I explained to him, as best I could in short order that I was not "new age" or some such, and that yes, what I did essentially was folk medicine, and that yes, while I could not explain how exactly acupuncture worked that there were numerous scientific explanations as to its mechanisms of action....and that in general acupuncture tends to be very restful and restorative at the very least for most people, and that in this case it may be very specifically helpful if the condition were in fact a disorder of function and not a physical anomaly such as a blockage, and that ear acupuncture specifically might provoke a vagal response and rectify the problem of his wife's rebellious stomach...He remained in part incredulous, but gave me his blessing to proceed at least in part because he perceived me as a practical man. Ah, the humanity.

It was a great opportunity to respectfully stand my ground, honor someone else's skepticism, and plainly and simply make an effort to alleviate the suffering of another being. I hope the treatment was helpful. At the end of the day there is no "alternative" medicine - there is only medicine that works and medicine that does not.

They were a pretty great bunch of people.We had a nice visit, chatted about this and that, and I went on my way.....grateful for the experience.

2010-09-10T21:11:00.002-05:00

Acupuncture as an end in itself

2010-09-09T22:40:00.001-05:00

Continuing on the theme of using acupuncture in a general kind of way....There was a great piece in the New York Times not long ago about happiness. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experience instead of material objects. Also, current research suggests that, unlike consumption of material goods, spending on leisure and services typically strengthens social bonds, which in turn helps amplify happiness.

This totally made me think about what we do here at South Austin Community Acupuncture...and what if more people just used acupuncture as an end in itself?

How to use acupuncture, generally speaking

2010-09-08T15:11:00.001-05:00

In this piece I want to focus on how one might use acupuncture to good effect in a more general kind of way.

First of all, as stated previously, acupuncture tends to be uniquely relaxing for the majority of people. So personally, and based on my direct experience as an acupuncturist, I would say one of the absolute best uses of acupuncture is STRESS REDUCTION.

Also, there is a relatively new concept of "subhealth" that has emerged in Chinese medicine which is relevant here. The idea behind subhealth is essentially that modern life takes it's own unique toll on us. We may not be sick, per se...but with the stresses of modern living we are also not optimally healthy. I think this idea of subhealth touches on two of the best ways to use acupuncture, and two ways of using acupuncture that are highly underutilized: STRESS REDUCTION and PREVENTATIVE CARE.

The community acupuncture model is particularly well suited for using acupuncture in this way because it makes it possible for people to afford to use acupuncture in this way.

If there were one very big message I would like convey to users or potential users of acupuncture it is this: You don't have to have anything particularly "wrong" to benefit from acupuncture. You can use it just to unwind and take care of yourself.

Start all over again...

2010-08-31T23:20:00.000-05:00

I came across some images I captured very late at night/early in the morning the week I moved the clinic a little over a year ago. It made me wonder why in the hell I had not blogged the entire existence of South Austin Community Acupuncture. I looked back and my first blog entry was July 21, 2008. We opened for business Nov. 15th, 2006, and by then had already had a dearth of small business experiences to report on. What was I thinking?

Whatever it was, I'll probably look back two years from now and ask myself, why wasn't I tweeting? So, here's some pics of the 'new' clinic from just before opening, a little over a year ago...I like 'em just 'cause they glow, which is what the clinic always looks like to me.

How does acupuncture work? pt. 1

2010-08-25T17:32:00.001-05:00

Let me begin by making some general observations about what happens when people get acupuncture.

First of all, for the vast majority of people acupuncture is extremely relaxing. Most people fall asleep. The sleep one experiences with acupuncture also tends to be extraordinarily restful and rejuvinative.

This is not everyone's experience of acupuncture, but it does tend to be the most common. It is as if acupuncture causes the body to shift from a more heightened, 'sympathetic' state, to more of a relaxed, 'parasympathetic' state. I personally think it is in this state that the bodies finds its balance.

So there seems to be this kind of general effect with acupuncture. The only people I've heard dare to say that the effect of acupuncture is general is a group of practitioners who call what they do 'biomedical acupuncture'. While I don't know that I agree with all of what the practitioners of so-called biomedical acupuncture espouse (they are pretty much completely dismissive of traditional Chinese medical theory), I do agree that the effect of acupuncture is in some broad sense general.

I personally don't think saying this diminishes or minimizes acupuncture in any way. I still believe the effects of acupuncture are potentially profound, I just think it has less to do with me and the intricacies of Chinese medical thinking, and more to do with people actually getting acupuncture - and also how responsive to acupuncture a given individual is.

There is a doctor in England named Felix Mann who has a theory that there are people who respond to acupuncture, a group of people who respond extraordinarily well which he has dubbed 'super-responders', and a small set that don't respond. My experience has been this as well, so this makes sense to me. There are some people who you do the simplest thing to and they get these amazing results, and there are a few who you can try everything on and nothing happens of any significance.

Mostly, people feel better with acupuncture and basic function improves (they sleep better, they poop better, they have greatly mental clarity and are less stressed), and for most conditions acupuncture is helpful to some degree.

OK! So, other than touching on my direct experience that acupuncture tends to provoke some kind of general parasympathetic response that seems to be beneficial to most people, I haven't really touched on how it works have I? To be continued...