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.
Valerie DeLaune, LAc
Valerie DeLaune, LAc, is a licensed acupuncturist and certified neuromuscular therapist. DeLaune has authored eleven books on trigger point self-help techniques, including Pain Relief with Trigger Point Self-Help. DeLaune teaches trigger point distance-learning courses and currently resides in Alaska. For more information, visit www.triggerpointrelief.com.