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.
Sandro Graca, MSc, Lic TCM, FABORM
Sandro Graca is a member of the SAR Board of Directors; a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, University of Wolverhampton, University of Wolverhampton, U.K., focusing on research on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and women’s health; Social Media and Outreach Editor for the European Journal of Integrative Medicine; and lead author on the Cochrane Review Group on acupuncture for assisted reproductive technology.