Positive Developments for the U.S. Acupuncture Profession

Volume 1, No. 1 of Meridians: The Journal of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine hit my mailbox last week.  It’s difficult to keep up with my “reading pile,” but knowing that Jennifer Stone and Lynn Eder were involved was a great incentive.

Though my time at the AAAOM was “nasty, brutish, and short” I did meet some great people there. Jennifer, who was editor-in-chief of The American Acupuncturist, and associate editor Lynn were among them.  Their work was top-notch and when I saw that they were part of the exodus from the AAAOM I feared their skills would be lost to the profession. Luckily, the new endeavor is off to a great start.

My favorite section was “Clinical Pearls”, focusing on Frozen Shoulder this issue. (Submissions on How to Treat Blocked Menses (Secondary Amenorrhea) will be accepted until November 15.)  I was so glad to see a focus on acupuncture treatments rather than herbal remedies. The growing (damaging and disturbing) trend in the profession to restrict practice to those with full herbal credentials demands frequent reminders that needling points is an incredibly effective stand-alone treatment. Thanks, Dylan Jawahir, Clinical Pearls Editor.

I also appreciated Jennifer Stone’s piece on postherpetic neuralgia. I’ll give the protocol a try the next time I’m confronted with a case that does not respond to my usual treatment choices. Again, simple needling can have great results.

My state association membership includes online access to MeridiansJAOM, which is a great perk. Still, ongoing survival of the journal will depend on subscribers and I hope that many of us will step up, subscribe, and support its advertisers. Subscription rates are very reasonable.

I have just one gentle request for Jennifer — can we have a more eye-friendly font? The footnotes were almost impossible for me, and even the main text required good lighting and rested eyes.

Another bit of good news last week — the launch of the Acupuncture Now Foundation. I’m often frustrated that so much of our profession’s energy and money goes to fighting with other professions, increasing our own licensure and educational requirements, and fighting to participate in a broken medical system. Meanwhile, helping the public understand the benefits of our medicine doesn’t seem to be a priority for many of our professional organizations.

Just as Matt Bauer’s Making Acupuncture Pay book and website have helped new practitioners by filling the gaps left by many of our acupuncture schools, the Acupuncture Now Foundation promises to do the public outreach work often given short shrift by our organizations. I hope that Matt gets the support he needs to finally do the work that has been his vision for years. He’ll need our help if this project is going to reach its potential. Sign up to receive updates on the ANF home page.