Good Acupuncture Includes Dry Needling
Dear Editor:
I read Michael Zakko’s article on treating tennis elbow [“An Acupuncturist’s Guide to Treating Tennis Elbow,” June issue]. I’m an acupuncturist who does not understand why he compares dry needling favorably with acupuncture. He asserts that dry needling of trigger points is different than traditional acupuncture.
I do trigger-point work on tennis elbow with great success. He says that you would want to go get dry needling if the onset of the condition was acute. That’s absurd. Good acupuncture includes dry needling. Dry needling is an aspect of acupuncture.
As a profession, we are being infringed upon by PTs and DCs who want to take a key part of acupuncture away from us. We need to not support dry needling as separate, and I ask that Acupuncture Today consider this.
Jeff Olson, LAc, MAcOM
Washougal, Wash.
Praising the Art of Harmonious Design
Dear Editor:
Thank you, Mark Miller, for sharing your detailed and enlightened description of the inspiring qi-filled space you designed for Jenn Paschaen, LAc, for her busy street-level Chicago practice. [See “Using Synergy for Healing Spaces” in the January issue.] Your creative use of shoji screens, light and qi flow all reflect the dojo ideal you acquired through aikido.
Those of us steeped in Japanese medicine experience this harmonious sense of design from day one at the core of a teaching and healing practice. In my early days of zen shiatsu training, I even acquired the art of vacuuming the dojo carpet as a meditation!
Your article prompts us all to re-examine our clinics beyond the basic rules of sanitized spaces and antiseptic sprays. Do our clients feel safe and calm in a space created to enhance healing?
Thank you, Mark and Jenn!
Pam Ferguson, Dipl. ABT,
AOBTA, GSD- CI, LMT
Austin, Texas
Over my almost 30 years in clinical practice, I have used Chai Hu Long Gu Mu Li Tang extensively for a wide array of clinical presentations ranging from chronic headaches to anxiety, insomnia, and prescription drug withdrawal symptoms if these situations fit the appropriate patterns – all with extremely positive clinical outcomes.
There’s no doubt that many of your patients visit your practice because they are in pain. And there’s certainly no doubt that curcumin from turmeric (Curcuma longa) can be incredibly effective in stopping that pain, whether due to chronic conditions like arthritis or acute pain from intensive workouts. But your patients may also benefit from curcumin for other reasons.
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Low back pain is defined as pain the posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS), and it can be acute or chronic, localized or radiating. It is a common ailment for adults in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence as high as 65-80%. Whether or not an MRI is available to provide definitive knowledge of a structural issue, acupuncture can be an effective treatment for low back pain.
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