As I so often do, I thought I’d repost an article I read that I thought you’d all find interesting. So funny how many times I’ve heard MDs (and others) say, “Oh, acupuncture is just a placebo treatment.” Whether or not it is, my clinical experience has taught me that doctors often have no idea how to treat something, and as this article points out, they very often do indeed prescribe placebos. According to a new study published in the British Medical Journal, U.S. doctors regularly give placebo treatments such as vitamins, sedatives or even antibiotics to patients, even though in many cases these doctors don’t expect such treatments to help the patient’s underlying disease. Read more by clicking here.
Posts Tagged ‘placebo effect’
Doctors Regularly Prescribe Placebos
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
Our Philosophy
Friday, February 12th, 2010About Our Influences & Treatment Approach
As acupuncture and Chinese medicine become more mainstream and less of a fringe medical option, the number of practitioners for you to choose from also increases. There are now over 12,000 licensed acupuncturists in the United States, with the greatest concentration right here in the Bay Area. As a potential patient, how do you choose the practitioner that’s right for you?
Here at Lamorinda Healing Arts, we believe that your relationship with your practitioner is every bit as important to the healing process as your practitioner’s skill with his or her modality of choice. You may go to several different acupuncturists who employ the same techniques, perhaps even use the same points, but with one you experience a much greater improvement than with others. Why is this? Our experience in practice tells us that, beyond technique or point selection or even placebo effect, a patient’s ability to feel comforted, heard, and understood by his or her practitioner–good rapport–is essential to a positive outcome. We pride ourselves on taking the time necessary to hear you out, to really connect, person-to-person, and tailor our treatment to your individual needs.
Philosophically, we’re a little bit different from other clinics you may have been to, for acupuncture or otherwise. We expect you to take an active role in your treatment, to be curious, and to do some homework. We expect results, and quickly. If we don’t get them, we’ll be happy to refer you to someone whom we believe is better equipped to do so. In that vein, we also believe that no healing approach is superior to any other; each is appropriate for a given situation and to a different degree. We are happy to work with you and your other practitioners to find the right mix of treatment options to meet your specific needs. We work extensively with other acupuncturists, medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, cranio-sacral workers, and others who may complement what we do.
Most of those currently practicing Chinese medicine were trained in what we like to call “Communist Chinese medicine,” the standards developed by the current government of mainland China. While we were trained and tested in these methods as well, we are primarily informed by pre-Communist styles of practice learned through our mentors and the continuing education we receive from them. We see medicine as an art as much as a science; as a sociological experience as much as a scientific one. As such, the concept of a medical “practice” is quite a literal interpretation of what we do: Every interaction, every view of a given condition, is a unique opportunity not only for you to learn about the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine, but for us to learn about your uniqueness in the context of your reasons for seeing us. Because to us, a medical practice is every bit as much a meditation on being human as it is a chance for healing and change.