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.
Katherine Altneu, LAc, MSOM, FABORM
Katherine Altneu, a graduate of Southwest Acupuncture College, is the owner and clinic director of "The Point" acupuncture & holistic medicine clinic in Denver, Colo. She is also a professor at  the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a member of the American Board of Reproductive Medicine and a certified yoga instructor.