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.
Claudia Anrig, DC
Dr. Claudia Anrig practices in Fresno, Calif., and is the co-editor of Pediatric Chiropractic, 2nd Edition. For more information, including a brief biography, a printable version of this article and a link to previous articles, please visit her columnist page online.