In seven years of post-graduate practice, I have had the privilege to give 675 people their first acupuncture treatment (as of mid-2024, when I wrote this article). Not included in that number are the numerous clients who trusted me to try acupuncture again after an uncomfortable or impersonal session. My goal is always to remedy these negative stories.
Structured water (H3O2) can be considered a fourth state of water between liquid and solid. It has the hexagonal structure of ice; however, missing a critical bond, it behaves more like a gel than a solid, but retains some of its crystalline structure.
In the past five years of my clinical practice, I have seen an astonishing upsurge in the chronic use of proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications for the gastrointestinal issue diagnosed by allopathic medicine as GERD. It is not uncommon to encounter patients taking these prescriptions for five-plus years.
Working with chronically ill patients entails acknowledging the reality that not all patients will survive their diagnosis. Chinese medicine and acupuncture play a crucial role in palliative and end-of-life care, addressing medication and disease side effects, alleviating pain associated with death, reducing anxiety and stress, and helping patients find peace during the dying process.
Did any of you ever get the feeling in school that it simply was not OK to speak about wanting to be successful? To get into the nitty gritty details of how to make money in practice? Maybe you were even someone like me who was directly told by someone in a position of power that I needed to take what I could get because in private practice, I wouldn’t make money.
I am always surprised by the relatively low numbers of acupuncturists and Chinese medicine practitioners who practice qigong since it offers direct, lived experience of yinyang, the acupuncture points and channels, and more. It springs from the same roots as our medicine and enhances our ability to enjoy free flow, harmony, and centered, relaxed parasympathetic states that contribute to our own health and well-being, as well as that of our patients.
Effective cosmetic acupuncture begins with understanding your patient’s goals and managing their expectations. This process is essential for both the success of the treatment and the satisfaction of the patient. In this article, let’s explore the foundational steps of goal setting, emphasizing the importance of open communication, active listening, and setting realistic expectations.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has taken significant steps in promoting the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in practice, recognizing its potential to address global challenges such as workforce shortages, patient safety, disease diagnosis, and routine health information systems management. But what does this mean for acupuncturists?
Every time the holiday season approaches, I invariably encounter questions about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle or receive requests for advice on preventing weight gain during this festive period. Here are the top strategies and practices I teach my patients to help them lean into intuitive eating and away from diet culture, especially during the holidays.
I have spent the past 48 years researching effective treatments for postviral and other causes of CFS and fibromyalgia. This has included eight studies on a variety of effective treatments and protocols. Long COVID is simply one more form of postviral chronic fatigue syndrome.
Longevity is becoming a commonly used word to describe a method of living or a medical practice or system that may potentially lead to a “long life.” Many modern clinics, be they allopathic or complementary and alternative, include the word in their clinic name or on their website to draw patients to their practice.
Metabolic syndrome is a complex disorder based on aberrant glucose metabolism involving numerous coexisting and interconnected conditions. With approximately 100 million Americans (35% of adults)1 suffering from the multitude of its far-reaching effects, it couldn’t be more relevant to our current collective health and well-being.
The Herbal Oncology Program (HOP), developed at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center by its Integrative Medicine Service (IMS) and Pharmacy Departments, published findings from a groundbreaking study last year that explores the efficacy of herbal formulas to support cancer patients, providing valuable insights for future studies and treatment strategies.
With thousands of years of theory, method, and ideologies combined with modern research, new techniques, and an ever-expanding knowledge base, how is it possible to know which strategies and theories are the “best” for that patient at that moment in time, with that particular collection of signs and symptoms? Most of us, myself included, answer this question with our cognitive biases on full display.
