The average acupuncture practice in the United States is changing. The trend of acupuncturists adding new products and services to their practice continues to rise at a fast pace.
An e-mail survey conducted in December 2011 found that 60 % of those acupuncturists surveyed were expected to sell products to half or more of their patients. Approximately 51 % of those in the profession are expected to increase the products and services they offered to their patients. What is motivating practitioners?
Acupuncturist Alex S. of Seattle, Wash. said:
"Increasing the range of what I offer allows choice and tailoring for my patients. If they purchase products from me, they know that they can trust that they are buying the appropriate products."
When asked why acupuncturists should introduce new products and services to their patients, survey participant Sarah of Beverly Hills, Calif. noted:
"It is important that the patients have many options to optimize their health. It encourages them to actively participate in their own wellness journey. Also, it increases my resourcefulness and effectiveness of my clinical work."
The December 2011 survey found that how acupuncturists discover and learn about new products and services for their patients actually depends on their years in practice:
Approximately 21% of acupuncturists surveyed offer products to "almost all" of their patients, with 22% offering products to half or more. The trend towards offering products to patients increases with experience and years in practice. The longer in practice, the more patients they offer products to.
There are a number of product and services that a significant percentage of doctors report that they are considering adding to their practice in the future. Some of these represent a significant increase in the percentage of acupuncturists already offering these products and services:
| New Products/Services | Current Use | Considering Offering |
| Weight Loss Products | 31% | 10% |
| Rehab Products | 12% | 13% |
| Laser Products | 8% | 6% |
| Homeopathic Remedies | 38% | 11% |
| Anti-Aging Products & Services | 27% | 12% |
| Topical Analgesics | 66% | 9% |
| Herbs | 86% | 4% |
The decision by more acupuncturists to offer weight loss products to their patients coincides with the increasing overweight and obesity problem in the United States. Doctors are recognizing the impact on patient health and looking for ways to address it.
Likewise, as the demand for anti-aging products and services increase more doctors will be looking for natural ways to extend vitality and youthfulness. This could potentially spark an interest in offering aesthetic products and services in the future.
Other products, such as homeopathic remedies and topical analgesics reflect natural choices to increase recovery, combat pain and increase wellness. With more half of the profession embracing the use of topical analgesics and another 9% looking to add them to their practice, topical analgesics could potentially rival rehab products in the next decade.
When asked what other products or services they currently offer or would like to offer to their patients, a number of acupuncturists mentioned: acupuncture, nutritional counseling, exercise tools and spa products.
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
| Digital Exclusive
One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
| Digital Exclusive