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.
Olivia Hsu Friedman, LAc, DACM
Dr. Olivia Hsu Friedman is the owner of Amethyst Holistic Skin Solutions and specializes in resolving acne, eczema, psoriasis, and TSW by only using Chinese herbal medicine. When not in the office, Olivia serves on the board of directors of the American Society of Acupuncturists, the advisory board of LearnSkin, and faculty at the Chicago Integrative Eczema Support Group.