here’s the rap

I’m getting pretty good at this – let’s say I’m at a gathering of people, maybe a business breakfast.  Or maybe a couple of people stop by the community clinic when we’re having an open house.  Or maybe I’m doing some taster acupuncture for first responders.  Someone will ask the question: can acupuncture help my back?  Suddenly everyone in the room is paying strict attention.  Here’s my answer:

Acupuncture is medicine.  Acupuncturists can do just about anything except surgery, set broken bones, or run tests, prescribe meds, or get covered by your insurance company.  Some of us are generalists, like your primary care doctor, and some of us are specialists – those who work on fertility issues, for example.  I consider myself a generalist with a special interest in early childhood, combat and critical incident traumas.

We look at things very differently than western medical people do.  We look for patterns that produce imbalances that produce symptoms like bad backs, obesity, depression, rheumatoid arthritis.  Every single issue that walks through my door is a symptom of an imbalance.  If I can figure out that imbalance, I can use some of the 365++ acupuncture points on the body to help you regain the balance that is your natural state of being.

That’s it.  The answer that you’ve been waiting for is ‘yes, acupuncture can help your back.  Not only can it relieve the pain now, but it is possible that you and I together can reduce your chances of having the problem again.’

Of course, since I love my job and I love to teach (tricky combination, that), I can go on for hours giving you a crash course in acupuncture 101, with the little I know about Daoism thrown in, and maybe a healthy dollop of my personal take on all this.  People tend to go a bit glassy eyed.

But really, it’s all very simple: you ask me if acupuncture can help your [insert topic here], and the answer is, quite likely, yes.