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.
Nancy Moore, MAc, LAc
Nancy Moore is a 1998 graduate of the New England School of Acupuncture in Watertown, Mass. She has a private acupuncture and herbal medicine practice in Bellingham, Washington. She can be reached at ntmoore7@comcast.net or through her website, www.acupunctureinbellingham.com.