A survey in the early 1990s indicated that Americans spend more than $13 billion annually on alternative therapies. Twelve million Americans received acupuncture treatments in 1995, while the United States government has allocated over $1 million in studies of the effectiveness of acupuncture. The patient volume in the student clinic at the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Houston, for example, increased by more than 105% from 1997 to 1999.

More and more Americans are using acupuncture because it is a natural form of therapy. Since the treatment uses needles to stimulate the patient's own body resistance, there are no side effects, compared to the use of Western drugs. The patient's energy, or qi, is doing all the work, and herbal medicine helps to balance any imbalances that are causing the disorder.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the organs, emotions, and environment are all related. What happens outside the body affects what is happening inside, therefore, psychology and emotions can affect the conditions of the organs; long-term stress can affect the liver, for example. Also, Oriental medicine believes that one organ's condition will affect other organs; for example, a disorder in the liver can influence the heart or the digestive system. Combining this with the emotions, someone who is very stressed or depressed can find their liver affected, and consequently lose their appetite.

All the organs and emotions are considered in Oriental medicine, which is different from Western medicine in many aspects. Although acupuncture and herbal medicine is known to work more slowly when compared to Western therapies, many believe that the cost savings per patient are tremendous in the long run. Many studies have indicated that patients who receive acupuncture treatments recover faster and spend less than going to a hospital to receive treatments. Unlike in the East, where acupuncture is considered first, many patients that receive acupuncture treatments in the United States have had bad experiences with drugs, or have tried every other alternative. Yet as more and more time progresses, acupuncture and herbal medicine are moving towards the spotlight and becoming the first line of defense.

The demand for acupuncturists doubled from 1992 to 1998, climbing from 5,525 to 10,512. Acupuncture is currently regulated in about 40 out of the 50 US states, indicating that there is growing popularity for the field. Medical schools are also beginning to teach acupuncture and Oriental medicine as part of their curriculum. This means that there is an interest among medical doctors to understand and accept acupuncture as a form of medicine. More and more patients are being referred to acupuncturists by medical doctors - over the last five years, there has been an increase in 'integrative' medicine, a term used to mean the combination of Western and Oriental medicine. One common example is patients who have cancer; they receive chemotherapy to destroy the cancer, and acupuncture to increase the immune system and decrease the side effects of such a strong therapy. As a result, there has been increasing demand for acupuncturists and medical doctors to work together, which in turn increases the demand for acupuncturists in the United States.

Studying acupuncture in the United States has some strong advantages, most notably, that the focus in the US has always been on protecting the patients. US laws on safety and cleanliness are some of the strictest in the world, and the techniques taught in US schools follow these codes of patient and practitioner safety; clean needle techniques and examinations have been developed for this purpose. Students also receive one of the most complete practical training programs because of the United States patient population. Interns that study acupuncture have patients from almost every ethnic and cultural background; they see patients with the same disease experiencing different reactions.

The United States is moving ever faster to fully integrate both forms of medicine, as technological knowledge allows researchers to develop the most advance acupuncture and Oriental medicine equipment. The acceptance of such 'traditional' forms of medicine is increasing at an alarming rate, but the supply of acupuncturists is still nowhere near that of countries such as China. Therefore, international students have a much easier time entering the field and learning acupuncture by using the latest technologies, yet maintaining a traditional style. Their studies can also incorporate other, less well-known forms of Oriental medicine, such as tui-na, qi-gong therapy and heat therapies.

Many common problems treated by acupuncture include smoking or drug addiction, achieving weight loss or having a face lift, as well as pain management, sciatic pain, allergies, stress, low back pain, gynecological problems, infertility, depression and low immunity. Like Western medicine, Oriental medicine also has its advantages.

Author
John Paul Liang
American College of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine

It's Fast, Effective and Free - Click here now