The Disadvantages Of Acupuncture

The World Health Organization has analyzed thousands of clinical studies and recognizes acupuncture as proven effective for treating 28 different physical ailments. It found evidence for effectiveness in 60 other diseases but would like to see further proof. Acupuncture works well within its own limited scope. Despite that fact, acupuncture has disadvantages, some of which stem from misunderstandings and organizational barriers.

Special Equipment

Acupuncture does not treat well any condition that requires special medical equipment. For example, if you go to a Western medical doctor for a tumor, the doctor has scanning devices that can pinpoint the location of the tumor, diagnostic equipment that can tell you if it's malignant or benign, and surgical equipment to remove it. Acupuncture offers none of these things. Consequently, acupuncture treatment is limited to conditions that can be treated using energy manipulation by needles. If your medical condition requires surgery, Western chemistry or life support, acupuncture obviously can't provide that for you.

World View

Acupuncture, as a part of traditional Chinese medicine, is built on a different world view from Western medicine. TCM not only treats discrete ailments but also balances "patterns," or complexes of disharmony in the body. It uses familiar terms like "liver," "kidney," "wind" and "cold"; but the meanings of these terms are somewhat different from their meaning in Western medicine and Western culture. Understanding acupuncture requires learning another way of looking at the body and how it operates. Consequently, acupuncture, at least at first, can seem a bit confusing, mysterious and maybe even superstitious, not only to patients but also to government regulators and the Western medical establishment.

Poor Regulation

Acupuncture is regulated on the state level, sometimes poorly. Some states require your acupuncturist to be a competent medical professional. Others have little or ineffective regulation. For example, California requires all acupuncturists to have 1,548 hours of theory and 800 hours of clinical training in acupuncture and TCM. Minnesota, by contrast, allows medical doctors and chiropractors to practice acupuncture with no training at all, despite the fact that acupuncture requires a very different education from Western medicine. Alabama does not allow fully trained Chinese medical professionals to perform acupuncture. In that state, only medical doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors and physician's assistants may practice, and they may do so without any acupuncture training whatsoever. In short, though acupuncture is an effective treatment for some conditions, given the state of current regulation, it's up to you to research your acupuncturist's background to see whether he or she is qualified to give you that treatment.

Integration into the Medical Mainstream

In the United States, acupuncture is not well integrated into medical mainstream. In China, acupuncture and Chinese herb clinics are a part of nearly every major hospital. Doctors and acupuncturists refer patients back and forth depending on whether the condition is treated better by Western or Chinese medicine. In the U.S., medical doctors are not trained to work with acupuncturists. For example, only one course in the Harvard Medical School catalog even mentions acupuncture. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine offered a single elective course in the History of Chinese Medicine at the time of publication, but the course required students to be able to read Chinese. Medical insurance plans that offer coverage for acupuncture are in the minority, and many acupuncturists are not equipped to take insurance. In the U.S. It can be difficult to integrate acupuncture into your overall health care.