A student stands over a patient, needle poised. They have a “perfect” prescription: a textbook combination of points harvested from a lecture slide on chronic lower back pain. But as the needle meets the skin, the student hesitates - the symptom of a quiet habit that has taken hold of our profession. We routinely say we “prescribe” points. It sounds efficient. It echoes the authority of biomedical culture and fits neatly into the insurance field. But vocabulary is never neutral; repeated long enough, it dictates behavior.
Acupuncture Poll
The Acupuncture Poll's question for July 2002 was:
"Which therapy do you perform or provide most often?
Results:
These results are based upon 192 responses. As this is a voluntary, non-scientific survey, caution should be used in generalizing the results. Here is a sample of the comments made by those who took the survey and how they voted:
Acupuncture: Acupuncture is most by far the most requested modality that we use. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine may be more effective in treating many chronic complaints, but acupuncture is just more popular with the public at large.
For more information on the Acupuncture Poll, contact Acupuncture Today at editorial@acupuncturetoday.com.