The Acupuncture Poll question for October 2004 was:
How many patients do you refer out to medical doctors or chiropractors each month?
Results:
These results are based upon 230 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. Some comments have been edited for brevity.
Between 6 and 10: I get more referrals back from medical doctors and osteopaths as well as chiropractors - 13 this month so far.
Between 6 and 10: I typically get more referrals from chiropractors or medical doctors, since most of my patients have already tried anything else besides Oriental medicine first.
Less than 5: I don't refer many people to medical doctors. However, I frequently make referrals to a specific chiropractors who has a physical therapy orientation; also, to a psychologist I like, and to other acupuncturists with specific specialties.
To vote in the current Acupuncture Poll, or to review comments and responses to previous poll questions, visit acupuncturetoday.com/acupuncturepoll.
Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) affects more than 15% of the U.S. population but evades most practitioners’ radar. Just five years ago, it wasn’t even on my radar, despite already having 20 years of experience as a clinician at that time. The more I dug (similar to leaky gut and post-COVID syndrome), the more I found my patients were suffering from this disorder.
Research supports the effectiveness of selecting the distal acupuncture points for the treatment of microtrauma and for relieving pain, particularly in cases of chronic shoulder pain. But to make the treatment results long-lasting, clinical experience and research suggest that instead of treating the most painful structure first, we identify the inhibited driver, restore reliable recruitment, confirm it with immediate re-testing, and only then address the painful area as a branch of a deeper pattern.
| Digital Exclusive
The motivation behind our practice of medicine is important, impacting not just our experience but also the experiences of those we treat. It is perhaps for this reason that the aspiration to help not just some, but all beings heal, has historically been an important part of the medical tradition. To explain this, we need to consider how medicine is interwoven with other social domains.