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.
Brette Luck, LAc
Brette Luck practices acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in Arlington Massachusetts. She has a background in electrical engineering and clinical research which provide her insights into her treatments. She can be reached at brette.luck@gmail.com.