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.
Harvey Kaltsas, AP, Dipl. Ac., Past President, AAAOM
Dr. Harvey Kaltsas was president of AAAOM from 1992-1994, served as chair of the Florida Board of Acupuncture from 1987-1991, and was vice chair from 1999-2001. He is in private practice in Sarasota, Fla. and is currently authoring books on gua sha massage and the dangers of X-rays.