Acupuncture and You

Spirit-Gate Acupuncture

20 MILLION AMERICANS TURN TO ACUPUNCTURE
More and more American adults are turning to acupuncture for their health and vitality.

I want to share with you the results of a recent survey sponsored by the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The surveyors sought to determine how many people in the US have tried acupuncture and how they liked it. They asked the following questions
Have you ever received acupuncture?
How satisfied were you with your acupuncture treatment? What was your primary reason for seeking acupuncture? What is your primary reason for not considering acupuncture?

Here is what the survey found:

Almost one in ten American adults (about 20 million) have had acupuncture treatment.

About 60% of those who have not had acupuncture would consider it as a treatment option.

Of those who tried it:

Only 18% were not satisfied with the experience.

48% were “very” to “extremely” satisfied.

58% of those who used acupuncture said their primary reason was for problems with bones, muscles, joints or nervous system.

Of those who would not consider acupuncture:

30% said they were satisfied with their current health care.

Another 29% thought there was not enough evidence that it works.

These results confirm that there has been an explosion of interest in acupuncture in recent years. This is largely due the positive and healing experiences people have had with this ancient medicine.

It is only 30 years ago that this medicine was unknown in America outside of the Oriental community. Then in 1972 President Nixon made the first visit to China by an American president. On that visit, Press Secretary Herb Schlesinger was treated with acupuncture for post-surgical pain following an emergency appendectomy. The news of this successful treatment was reported along with photographs in American newspapers and magazines.

Since then schools teaching not only Chinese, but also Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese, forms of acupuncture have opened here to train Americans. Now there are over 40 accredited acupuncture schools, mostly on the East and West coasts, training American acupuncturists.

When I was in school in 1989-91, there were just a handful of books in English about acupuncture. Now there are hundreds. Most states have licensed acupuncturists, and there is increasing availability.

People love acupuncture because of the results they get from treatment. They also love the way they are treated as persons. Good acupuncturists take the time to listen to their patients and really get to know them and their lives.

I am often asked if acupuncture is holistic. It is, of course. This medicine looks at the whole person and not just the symptoms that bring them for treatment. Acupuncture is a relational medicine, and the power of it comes from the relationship that is formed between the practitioner and the patient. Some people get better even before the first needle is placed, just from the conversation that we have had.

People who come for treatment for one problem, often find their lives improving in a number of different ways that they hadn’t anticipated. I recently encountered a former patient in a restaurant. He originally had come for treatment for a sore shoulder and an ankle that wouldn’t heal. He is a musician-songwriter who was suffering long-term depression, had headaches and had lost his desire to write music. I hadn’t seen him for a while, and he surprised me. After a few treatment sessions, his headaches were much better, his mood was improved and he was back to writing songs. Also his shoulder was better, though he forgot to tell me. We stopped treatment, and I hadn’t heard from him. Over some Indian curry he told me that his creativity had returned, his chronic anger had mellowed, his rocky relationship with his girlfriend had been salvaged and he was exploring a new spiritual path. He said it was the treatments we did together that set these events in motion.

Acupuncture is medicine for life, not just for relief of pain. All of life is taken into consideration. As one of my teachers has said, “With drugs you get side effects; with acupuncture you get side benefits!”
Joe Pfister, LAc.