I've been praticing for ten years. If acupunture is famous for anything it is pain management. In California we are considered primary care physicians. I spent 2.5 years on associate staff at UCSD. One year at Kaiser and some time at the VA in La Jolla

The NIH, FDA, WHO and other US goverment and international agencies are finally conceeding that this 5000 year old system of medicine actually does what it claims to do.

It's nice to get the govenments "Grand pooba Blessing".

Seriously though I just got back from Europe and there only MDs are allowed to practice and they have little or no training in this form of medicine.

When you look for a pratitioner Japenese style of acupuncture is considered a more sophisticated form. Also look for a practioner that is skilled in Herbal Medicine as well as Homeopathic Medicine, both are great adjucnt therapies.

Hope this helps...

I meant to archive this in men's health, Sorry...

Just curious: I believe that accupuncture does have validity in pain management. However would that be any different than simply taking pain-killer pills? I know it's probably saner and healthier than putting chemical into your body and potentially damage your liver for example but as far as being a treatment?

That is can accupuncture "cure" anything or is it just a temporary respite from pain?

I'm not an MD, but...

I've received acupuncture treatments over the years for various things, including back pain, and swear by it. And I might add that, being empirically minded, I've reviewed some of the western literature on the topic. There's a growing list of validation studies for some of the procedures.

I've never before heard that Japanese acupunture is more sophisticated. I've personally obtained good results (sometimes in a single session) from practitioners (American or Chinese) who use various forms of traditional chinese medicine (TCM). If you take chinese herbs as part of your treatment, you sometimes may be taking something that will not mix well with other drugs you are taking...

If you are on a limited budget, San Diego is a good place to find an acupuncturist. There's the Pacific School of Oriental Medicine (cheap), as well as their many instructors and graduates who populate the southland. If you are further north, there is the Yosan school and a variety of its graduates.

Name: Innocent
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Subject: Re: Traditional Chinese Medicine
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Dogster,

Two things. Japenese style is considered superior
because the practitioner uses an extemely fine guage needle and a very light insertion technique.

This style makes the insertions all most sensationless and just as effective or more effective than Chinese or Korean style.

This is especially important if you treat alot of children. My practice is about 20% pediatric.

Getting treatments at PCOM is a coin toss. If you get a good intern (they are few and far in between) your OK. I personally would not
volunteer to be a lab rat at the school clinic.

There are only a few practitioners who I would let touch me in San Diego period. You do get what you pay for.

Allways choose a well versed practioner with years of clinical experience and preferably a strong allopathic backround as well, like pre-med at a good university before graduate training at a acupuncture college. IMHO...

Added on Date: 7:23:08 08/27/02

Meenpapi,

Just curious: I believe that accupuncture does have validity in pain management. However would that be any different than simply taking pain-killer pills?

--Yes, pain pills just treat the symptom. They cannot restore structure or function.

I know it's probably saner and healthier than putting chemical into your body and potentially damage your liver for example but as far as being a treatment?

That is can accupuncture "cure" anything or is it just a temporary respite from pain?

--I am not a purist. I refer patients to surgeons
and reccomend drugs for certain conditions regularly. The real art in practicing medicine is adjusting to time and circumstance and knowing which modality is appropriate.

And yes acupuncture is "more curative" as opposed to allopathic medicine being more palliative.

Especialy for chronic degenerative conditions.

Prick

(that was a pun.. me a funny guy)

Does accupuncture help arthritic knees? How long before a new treatment is needed?

Nayarit,

Depends on the condition Rhumatoid is more complicated to treat than osteoarthritis but I have had good results with both.

Diet is a consideration as well as the intake of indicated herbal and homeopathic medicines.

I would also reccomend a x-ray study atleast and maybe an MRI to get a look at the meniscus and knee capsule...

Can't say what frequency you need it varies patient to patient and with the severity of the condition. A generic reccomendation is six treatments spread over six weeks for a fair evaluation period...