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Before we can approach treatment of a patient’s primary elemental imbalance (AKA “Causative Factor” or “CF”), a number of specific energetic blocks must be considered and, if present, removed in order for treatment to be effective. I cannot emphasize this enough. We cannot treat through a block, which means that…

The jolt of seeing a woman conscious and talking during surgery left a lasting impression in 1971 when acupuncture was on the national news. A “New York Times” reporter covering President Nixon’s trip to China fell ill with appendicitis and surgeons successfully used acupuncture for anesthesia and post-operative pain.

As an acupuncturist I see many people suffering from depression. I often think depression is the major imbalance of our culture. I have a patient I’ve been working with for several years. Her major challenge is chronic stubborn depression. I’ve found the most effective treatment for alleviating her depression is…

Successful practitioners are the ones who know how to run a business, first and foremost. I became a licensed acupuncturist in 2006. After having worked in chiropractor's offices for nine years, I opened my own office in 2015: four treatment rooms, a back office and a waiting room. Since then,…

Gilian

Diane

The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) is offering a route to achieve national certification—without having to take any of the NCCAOM exams. This is specifically for California licensed acupuncturists that meet the eligibility requirements.

In my pursuit of being a skilled health care provider, I focus on reading journals, attending classes, staying current on medicinal research, and choosing the correct billing codes. However, most of us would never have started down this career path if there wasn’t something more. It is my belief the…

Certified Chinese herb practitioners often identify themselves with the credentials “LAc” (Licensed acupuncturist). Very few Chinese herb practitioners utilize the post-nominal letters “Dipl. OM” (Diplomate of Oriental Medicine) or “Dipl. CH” (Diplomate of Chinese Herbology) to indicate their expanded education that includes significant herbal training and testing. Practitioners also don’t…

Back in 1910, when D.D. Palmer published The Chiropractor’s Adjuster and introduced the world to what he called the “triad of health” – thoughts, trauma and toxins – he explained that the body can only be made optimally healthy if all three aspects of health are addressed.

TCM looks death in the face. We do not camouflage it as if it were poisonous. “We must allow our patients to die but we cannot allow them to perish,” was my first lesson the day I met my teacher as a teenager.

In the first article in this series, “Early Detection Reduces Hip, Knee, & Shoulder Replacements,” I described time tested screening procedures and perspectives as indicators of when to encourage your patients to seek further medical evaluation. Additionally, I described the anatomical relationships that have evidenced themselves to contribute to the…

The acupuncture profession has been undergoing many changes in the past years. There has been a shift towards a more integrative approach to medicine as more hospitals include integrative departments. Oftentimes, the desire of integration can lead practitioners to think about where the role for the classics continues in our…

It turns out chronic inflammation is the driver of autism expression. Unfortunately, those who emotionally embrace the vaccine issue rarely, if ever, consider this relationship, which hinders a rational view of the vaccine issue.

As an industry are we shifting too much toward a Western mind set? We strive to understand how acupuncture works using imaging and extensive studies. We spend numerous hours of our training learning Western medicine and learning to speak their language. What happened to our core though? What happened to…

Based on the latest CDC statistics, more than 795,000 Americans have strokes per year, 140,000 of which are lethal. Approximately 87 percent of all strokes are ischemic with an estimated health care and missed work cost of $34 billion annually. 1 Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability.…

The topic of dairy consumption was brought up at a scalp acupuncture seminar I recently attended. The Western presenter, educated and practicing in China, made the blanket statement that humans are not meant to consume dairy and that doing so causes dampness and phlegm accumulation, one of the key pathogenic…

I have a patient that has Medicare, but also has a secondary insurance plan that does cover acupuncture. How do I bill Medicare to get a denial so that I may bill this secondary payer?

Teri

Jessica