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Acupuncture Today columnist Gregory Ross has been named the 2011 Gold Medalist for Best Contributed Column in the prestigious Western Regional Azbee Awards of Excellence competition by the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE).

One of the most important aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine is its rich source of historic medical texts. Jin Gui Yao Lue ( Essentials of the Golden Cabinet ) is perhaps one of the most important of these texts. Far from being an antiquated resource, the following case studies reveal…

Medical qi gong is a comprehensive system of healing. This natural healing system contains the principles of classical and traditional Chinese medicine, as well as theories and applications from the wide range of indigenous traditions of Chinese culture. These traditions include the many branches of taoist theory and practices; including…

In our acupuncture or other medical training we learn to carefully observe a patient’s signs and symptoms, use hands-on examination skills and then attempt to understand the correct diagnosis for the complaints he/she is coming to us for help with. In an ideal world we would gather all the data,…

Acupuncturists and other volunteers responded to the recent natural disasters around the country and helped create a safety net for thousands of citizens in Joplin, Miss., Minneapolis, Minn., and Springfield, Mass. Tornados affected each of these areas in late May and early June of this year, causing loss of lives,…

Earlier this year, the journal of Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging published a study showing that in just eight weeks of mindfulness meditation practice, structural changes in gray matter were observed. The study had participants meditating for as little as 27 minutes each day. This is the first study documenting that meditating…

Abraham Flexner was a reformer of education, particularly in the area of medicine. He devoted much of his life to education, attempting to gain a better understanding of its place in society. It could be said that he changed the face of medical education in America with his 1910 report…

Hypertension is a relatively common condition that is in some ways associated with aging. But treating it using TCM, is in my opinion, a partnership rather than a series of treatments. The treatment plan does not only involve the practitioner, acupuncture, herbs, and other TCM therapies, it involves the behavior…

Here is a list of the top 10 money mistakes a practitioner can make that can have an effect on their overall business. Make a note of them and try to avoid these common pitfalls by learning how to make better choices when it comes to your business funds.

I don’t know about you, but I am feeling very stressed right now. There is too much going on ( yang ) and not enough quiet time ( yin ) in my life to compensate for the activity. I am stretching myself, filling my life with a bit too much…

Presumably you speak the same language as your patients do. Still, communicating about pain can be difficult. There’s more to it than finding out if the pain is sharp, dull, stabbing, throbbing, constant, coming and going, hot, cold, etc. There may be even more to it than asking whether or…

Recent research from the Netherlands suggested that coffee, nose blowing, and sex can potentially trigger strokes in people with untreated brain aneurysms. The findings, while a little nerve wracking—apparently, one in 15 people develop brain aneurysms at some point in their life—are far from definitive. Just a few months ago,…

I have written many times now about the importance of good, clear, complete documentation. No doubt it is a pain – it takes up time and energy we would all rather put toward patient care. But, there is really no choice – the standard of care and the new healthcare…

Is the regulation of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine in Ontario, Canada a positive move for the profession? According to George Smitherman, the Minister of Health, “Regulating traditional Chinese medicine will help ensure that Ontarians are receiving safe, quality care from practitioners who have achieved a certain level of skill…

Open your local phone book and you’ll find that you have lots of competition from other acupuncturists and healers with various backgrounds and modalities, traditional doctors, and more. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that every acupuncturist is unique and offers something different. No matter how much…

The Chinese medical classics emphasize importance in understanding “transmission” within the disease process. It is not enough to view a condition in its present state alone; one must understand where it has come from and where it could potentially progress to next.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” For the last 30 years, management of acute spinal cord injuries has usually included high dosages of the steroid methylprednisolone. Perhaps the rationale for this treatment was based more on the theory of…

Do you practice Integrative Medicine? If so, how? Some of you might be thinking that Integrative Medicine (IM) is intuitively obvious, while others may hesitate if pressed to provide a definition. Webster’s dictionary defines Integrative Medicine as “medicine that integrates the therapies of alternative medicine with those practiced by mainstream…