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.
Catherine Hollingsworth
Catherine A. Hollingsworth is a freelance writer based in the New York City area. She is currently studying acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine at the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in Gainesville, FL. Find her at catherinehollingsworth.com