Dr. Roxanne Nichols is a licensed acupuncturist and owner/operator of Bliss Body, LLC (www.blissbodybalance.com). She graduated from Pacific College of Health and Science (Doctor of Acupuncture), New England School of Acupuncture at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (Master of Acupuncture), and Framingham State College (Master of Counseling Psychology). Dr. Nichols is passionate about treating mental-emotional-spiritual conditions with acupuncture and various modalities. She has been a reiki practitioner for more than 25 years; and is also a certified hypnotherapist and certified life coach.
A research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provides early findings from the most recent (2022) survey on the use of complementary health approaches (CHA). The findings include data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which conducts interviews both by phone and in-person. The CHA results have been published in 2002, 2012 and again in 2022.
When learning traditional East Asian medicine, we are taught the four pillars of diagnosis: inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry, and palpation. When it comes to palpation, there is often a quick mention of feeling the acupuncture channels, and then the focus moves on to pulse diagnosis. Little to no time is spent palpating the channels – or the skin for that matter.
Topical analgesics (TAs) are effective. In fact, the American Geriatric Society recommends the use of topical agents for localized neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain as a front-line measure. The benefit of TAs is their high compliance, ease of use, direct application to the painful site, and limited systemic cross-reactions. The real challenge is choosing the appropriate topical for each patient given the myriad choices available.
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