Ancient acupuncture with modern tools.
Have you experienced the death of a patient? It hurts. You’ve shared part of my journey with a special patient in previous blogs. We cried together when she was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in January of 2011. They gave her six months to live. (Complementary versus Alternative) She and I worked together with her oncology team. They worked on fighting the cancer. She worked on good nutrition and maintaining a healing lifestyle. I worked on... Read more
I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. Oh, I’ve tried them before, and frankly found it a waste of time. The trouble is this: once I’ve resolved to do something, or not do something, and then failed even once, the resolution is broken and soon forgotten. It’s a high-stakes gamble that I seem to lose! One break is all it takes for the whole resolution to go out the window. I much prefer to focus on priorities for... Read more
A couple of days ago I sent you a link to Kimberly’s latest Acupuncture Today article. Since then I’ve realized I never told you about her previous article. It’s really worth reading! In this article, Kimberly gives some marketing ideas that are both innovative and simple. They’ll make a huge difference for your practice, so I recommend you take a look. Have a great day! Finders Keepers: The Secret to Relationship-Based Marketing By Kimberly Thompson,... Read more
A patient came in last week, desperately hoping acupuncture would work. Nothing else was helping… Her family circumstances were overwhelming to the point her emotions were out of control. She couldn’t stop crying. She wished she could run away from everything and everyone. And she even said she wished her life could just end, although she knew that wasn’t an option. Patient Education I’m so glad she had the wisdom to call me. I’d... Read more
Shoulder Pain is SO limiting! It makes everything ACHE, your neck, arm, chest and down your back. Even little tasks like putting away the groceries become a chore. The shoulder is a complex ball and socket joint that is made up of three bones: the humerus (arm bone), the scapula (shoulder blade) and the clavicle (collar bone). There are ligaments that help support the shoulder and dozens of muscular attachments that help move the shoulder.... Read more
Why do you do what you do? What drives you to get out of bed every day and go to work? There are probably as many answers to this question as there are practitioners in this field. I’ve talked to many, many acupuncture practitioners over the years and seen nearly every practice situation imaginable. Every practitioner is unique, and the common theme among them all is a great desire to help people. Sure, you can... Read more
“Evidence-based medicine.” Why is this such a common buzz phrase for modern acupuncturists? Have you been in social media acupuncture groups or to acupuncture symposiums lately? Acupuncturists want it and patients demand it. I don’t remember hearing much about it when I began my acupuncture journey 10 years ago. They didn’t really teach it in school. The truth is—our medicine, in its traditional sense, lacks the ability to objectively demonstrate problems or track patient progress.... Read more
QUESTION: What do a microcurrent device, a laser, and a hippie massage therapist have in common? Read on, and I’ll tell you! ***** Having NEVER given a massage before, and only received one massage in my life, I went to a hippie massage school in Santa Barbara, California–The School of Intuitive Massage and Healing. I was completely out of my comfort zone. Imagine “conservative mother of eight” going to massage school. The director of the... Read more
Do you play favorites? As a mother of nine—I’ve learned to be very careful about “playing favorites.” All my kids are different and I love them all. You won’t catch me playing favorites when it comes to my kids! That would cause BIG problems. But, can I tell you a secret? In my clinic, I have FAVORITE patients. Come on… Don’t judge. You’ve been there too! It’s hard not too right? Some patients just have... Read more
Take a look at this case of breast and lung cancer treatment! Dr. Chris Teo, like so many of you, selflessly serves humanity by helping those who are perhaps beyond hope. “When you are told that you have no hope, to be prepared for your imminent death, we believe that there is still hope. We join you in this last battle of your life. We shall carry out our task in good faith and... Read more
A quick review: In Part 1 of this series I talked about Entry/Exit points, (the doorways that allow energy to move from one channel to the next. Click here if you missed it.) Now let’s talk about measuring the channels. When measuring the source points for an AcuGraph exam, many practitioners get stuck in the mode of measuring according to the “Textbook” location. My advice? Stop that! Now that you are done with exams, let’s move... Read more
We had a Laser Case Study Contest that generated some amazing stories of how Laser therapy helped their patients. There were lots of great entries, here are the top three! Third Place – Topic: Healing: “The Scar that Wouldn’t Heal” by Martha Hall, L.Ac. Second Place – Topic: Pain & mobility: “She Walked without her Walking Sticks” by Debra M. Ashcraft, MD First Place – Topic: Depression: “I Gave Her My Laser…You Would Have Too!” by Jackie Victor,... Read more
Today I’m pleased to announce the 2nd Place Winner of our Laser Case Study Contest. We’ll post the 1st Place Winner next week. Last week we sent out the 3rd Place case study. Click here if you missed Martha Hall’s excellent 3rd Place entry. Today, I’m pleased to present the Second Place winner! It’s given in two parts, below. Enjoy. “She Walked without her Walking Sticks” – by Debra M. Ashcraft, MD Part One... Read more
I was talking with some friends recently and one of them said he read there are many different types of oriental medicine. He was confused as to the difference and wondered which method is the most effective. So let me ask YOU – How many different types of Traditional Chinese Medicine are there? Are you a TCM practitioner? Is your specialty Herbs, 5 Element, Meridian Balancing? This conversation reminded me of Dr. Jake Fratkin and his... Read more
We had wonderful responses to our laser case study contest, and I’m pleased to announce the winners. There were lots of great entries, and deciding on the winners wasn’t easy. But Kimberly made me buy her lunch, we talked it over, (OK, even argued a bit) and came up with three truly outstanding cases. Here they are: Third Place: The Scar that Wouldn’t Heal by Martha Hall, L.Ac. Second Place: She Walked without her Walking... Read more