The Acupreneur Blog

News Round-Up

BC Lions Jackson trades practice for acupuncture: B.C. Lions' quarterback Jarious Jackson didn't participate in practice Monday, but his head coach doesn't feel there's any reason to be overly concerned.  ed. How cool is it that so many professional athletes are open about how much acupuncture helps them stay in playing shape?

 

Magnetic Acupuncture Has Become a Popular Approach Utilized for Many Differing Ailments: AcuAids are small magnetic BeeBees placed on Acupuncture points, thus providing stimulation much like a needle.  ed. so what do you think? Will something like this help patients like myself in between our weekly, monthly, or every now and then appointments?

 

Acupuncture and massage help the victims of a very Californian disaster: Massages, acupuncture and stress counselling are being offered to around 10,000 wildfire evacuees gathering at the Qualcomm Stadium in

San Diego

— along with Starbucks coffee, beef empanadas and fresh Caesar salads.  ed. have we learned our lessons from  Katrina ?

 

National Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine Day Aims To Educate Consumers About Benefits Of Using Certified Practitioners: Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AOM) Day, celebrated annually on October 24, was created to raise awareness of the benefits of acupuncture - a viable form of medicine with a 3,000 year history. ed. Happy AOM day everyone.  Hope you have some cool plans.

-Amy, Editor

Community Newsletter

Need a law?

News is news but occasionally something sometimes jumps out and bites you in the nose.  Take this title from the News Journal out of Delaware:

No sting in law say acupuncture practitioners:
Many acupuncturists believe national certificate is enough - read the article here (ed.)

In fact this is a story trying to help make the case that Delaware needs update it's laws and allow practitioners to be certified by the state.  Delaware is currently one of eight states that still do not have laws on the book to allow anyone to practice.  This is possibly a sign of the loosening of the AMA stranglehold or just a terrifying sign that some places refuse to keep up with the times.  I'll leave it to you to decide which.

Cheers All!
Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter

Runny Nose

Speaking as someone who suffers from seasonal allergies, this article is a great relief:

The study by the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre of Traditional Medicine at RMIT found acupuncture could be a safe and effective treatment for persistent allergic rhinitis, which affects 16 per cent of Australians. - read the rest here.

Doesn't it just warm your heart to read about new studies and reports?  It says that the world is looking for a cure and finding acupuncture to be that cure.

I also found this one, while we're talking about trends:

More and more African Americans are seeking alternative means of maintaining healthy lifestyles and combating diseases. One such alternative is acupuncture and acupressure. - read the rest here.

So it isn't just acceptance as a whole but maybe even a widening of the patient base.  Either way we see more and more people turning to AOM and that in and of it self is a great thing!

 

Cheers all!

Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter

money money money

The love of money is the root of all evil.
         - I Timothy ch6 v. 10; cf Proverbs 606:45

I have always been supportive of however an acupuncturist wants to make his or her money.  Coming from my background working for the AOMAlliance I was instructed from my first moments stepping into this community that we have to be tolerant and respectful of everyone's beliefs, even when they are not respectful of ours.  We, of course, weathered the storm of to doctor or not to doctor by saying it should be a personal choice, same with insurance.  Some find it more comforting and better business to take insurance and some prefer to stick to what they feel is their roots - an unconventional and grass roots movement of medicine.  And I support everyone  of those people because what should really matter to any of them should not be how they make their money but how they treat their patients.  All acupuncturists whether they wear a white coat or birkenstocks are healers and that's what they should be first.

So what's inspired this preachiness from your newsy editor?   Two things:

smoking cessation

I saw this story today and have to wonder about laser s and anything really.  But then I am of a generation where lasers were always weapons and I suppose I have a prejudice.

If you are like most smokers who, aside from being concerned about weight gain and stress after quitting are frustrated with failed options, you may have neglected to explore a new technique to quit smoking - laser therapy. - read the rest here (ed.)

The other problem I may have is that despite my amazing love and respect for acupuncture, I did quit smoking cold turkey.  But I would love to know from any of you if acupuncture could help me stop wanting to smoke.  Even after  3 years I still crave the movement and familiarity of it even if the smell of it makes me sick.

So tell me what you think . . . .do you think lasers will help people stop smoking?  And do you think acupuncture would help me stop wanting to smoke?

Cheers all!
Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter

Congratulations are in order!

I saw this little tidbit in the Maui News recently and thought I'd share:

MICHAEL HOWDEN, Lic.Ac., was elected chairman of the Hawaii State Board of Acupuncture at the board’s August meeting. He served on the board from 1995 to 2000 and was reappointed this year by Gov. Linda Lingle.

Howden has been an acupuncture provider at the Outpatient Clinic at Kula Hospital for more than 10 years and has also served as an accreditation site visitor for the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Commission, the national accrediting body for acupuncture colleges.  Source

I'm sure Hawaii will benefit greatly from this addition.

Cheers All

Amy, Editor

Community Newsletter

What an Idea!

I was reading through the news this week and I noticed this little tidbit:

Molly O'Leary, DC, of Brookside Chiropractic and Acupuncture will offer chair massages every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at Aquarius Books in Kansas City.  - source

and I thought to myself that this here is a very entrepreneurial person.  I see all kinds of massage therapists that go into gyms and offer little chair massages.  but I had never considered it a big enough venue to be able to do it for acupuncture.  But when you consider what can be done with acupressure and seeds anything is possible.  So how about it?  Anyone going to offer 5-10 minute sessions in your local library, bookstore, or other relaxed place?  Or does this just go against the grain?

Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter

Fat-Busters My Fat Butt

I'm actually really glad for articles like this: Court cuts fake fat-busters down to size.

Dud professional titles, unsubstantiated testimonials and unreliable "before and after" pictures of alleged clients' thinning stomachs, waists and buttocks sparked an investigation into three family members.

These people have done more damage to the future of acupuncture than we can imagine.  How many times will something like this be propped up now as the norm?  How many people who've heard of these poor souls who have had had their dreams shattered will now attribute the failure not to a bunch of scammers but to acupuncture itself? 

"They are attracting clients in circumstances where it's misleading and unfair to other Chinese medicine clinics who abide by the (law)."

What a destruction of the trust of people.

-Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter

I Want To Go!!!

Check this out . . .

1,500-plus acupuncturists to gather for traditional Chinese medicine conference
More than 1,500 acupuncturists from nearly 30 countries and regions will gather in Beijing this October, to discuss the future of traditional Chinese medicine.
 
From Oct. 20 to 22, the acupuncturists will attend an academic forum for the 20th anniversary of the World Association of Acupuncture. The forum, with the theme of "acupuncture: looking back and looking forward", will have eight sub-forums on topics like education, the evolution of acupuncture and needle therapy practise and assessment.

Read the rest of the article here. 

-Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter

New Online Courses

I caught this article released this week and thought it might be of interest:

Continuing education classes for acupuncture are now being offered online by Healthcare Medicine Institute’s online continuing education division, HealthCMI. HealthCMI brings the classroom online using open source solutions for the web. “Open source solutions allow our learning management systems to operate on any type of server and offers unprecedented educational opportunities for medical professionals,” Executive Director of the Healthcare Medicine Institute, Adam White, said. Licensed acupuncturists can download courses at www.healthcmi.com and receive instant state approved certificates upon completion of course materials.

Click here for the rest of the article and please check with the NCCAOM before assuming that any course is approved for Continuing Education Credits.

Cheers All
Amy, Editor
Community Newsletter