Category: Acupuncture Articles

What is acupuncture? What can it treat? Our guide goes through some of the history behind this ancient technique and what it is used for today.

“Please lie face down,” Dr. W instructed before exiting the room. The big wooden door swung shut, and I scrambled up to the treatment table feeling a twinge of excitement, as I scurried to shed my sweater. My first face down treatment, I thought, the white table paper crinkling beneath me in anticipation. I’d sought out Dr. W primarily for his orthopedic expertise, but as I filled out the intake form that evening, a nagging pain in my lower abdomen compelled me to include a brief saga of some persistent digestive issues I’d experienced since childhood. To my surprise, not once during the back and forth of our consult was I questioned about my intestinal woes. As I lay there waiting for him to return, …

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the opioid crisis “is a serious national crisis that affects public health as well as social and economic welfare.” Every day millions of lives are affected and many are lost due to opioid addiction and overdose. While Doctors of Medicine (MDs) are doing their part to reduce the amount of opioids available, we have to ask ourselves, as educators and practitioners in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine what we can do to end the epidemic.

Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College (AIMC) seeks to educate our students and our communities on what Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can do to help move our society toward an alternative answer.

Traditional Chinese Medicine …

Many people know that acupuncturists practice acupuncture, but few know what the day-to-day life looks like. Acupuncture is full of many different approaches, so no two days are the same. Each professional acupuncturist can choose to run their practice how they please, but here are some of the common job responsibilities that acupuncturists have in common:

Meet with patients in 30 to 60 minute-long appointments
Review health information & discuss treatment options
Perform acupuncture & other treatments for patients
Update patient records
Manage practice, employees, and work space
And meet continuing education requirements

Acupuncturists are licensed primary care providers, so they have the opportunity to oversee more than simply performing acupuncture practices. Acupuncturists do not focus only on particular diseases or troubles, but they watch carefully and prescribe …

Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College in Berkeley focuses on teaching the Japanese style of acupuncture which differs from traditional Chinese acupuncture. Learn about the history of this practice and how the different styles developed.

What is Acupuncture?

According to the Mayo Clinic, acupuncture, “involves the insertion of very thin needles through your skin at strategic points on your body.” People turn to acupuncture to treat a variety of ailments including chronic pain, stress, digestive disorders, and infertility. Learn more about what acupuncturists do.

While we don’t know exactly when acupuncture first appeared, it is widely agreed that it originated from China more than 2000 years ago. However, for thousands of years acupuncture had been practiced in other Asian countries as …

Every day over 140 Americans die from accidental drug overdose. Alarmingly, 65% of those deaths are from an opioid drug overdose. In 2016 alone, the annual death toll due to an opioid overdose was 64,000. This is a 22 increase from the previous year. The overuse of opioids to treat pain has become so dangerous that on October 26th, 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a nationwide public health emergency (Department of Health and Human Services, 2017).

As a result, the opioid addiction epidemic has increased awareness and interest in alternative pain management care such as acupuncture. Today, it’s estimated that more than “700 addiction centers offer acupuncture as an alternative and/or adjudicative therapy” (Esmaeili, Motlagh & Ibrahim et …