10 Truths and Lies About Acupuncture.

1. Acupuncture is nothing more than placebo effects.

False.  Acupuncture is a diverse discipline with many variations and modalities, many of which differ significantly.  Just because a few point combination fail to beat placebo in a study doesn’t prove the other hundreds and even thousands of combination will also fail.  To prove the above lie to be true, one would have to demonstrate all possible treatment combinations to be ineffective.  The existing negative studies come nowhere close to doing so. Those negative studies also have inherent flaws that require a more lengthy discussion, which we’ll reserve for later.  This lie also ignores the wealth of studies showing acupuncture to be more effective than placebo. If you want to find out more, I’ll be happy to send you more information.

2. Acupuncture is being adopted in some of the top hospitals in the US.

True.  Places like Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Mayo Clinic and the Harvard affiliated hospitals like Massachusetts General and Brigham & Women’s are all offering acupuncture now.

3. Acupuncture is painful.

Mostly false.  It an be a little painful at times. but that is more the exception than the rule.  Most acupuncturists are very good at minimizing pain and induce a calming mood for the patient. Nobody likes pain, and acupuncturists understand that better than anybody else.

4. Acupuncture is less risky than surgery.

True.  With acupuncture, you will not be going under general anesthesia, nor will there be any incisions.  Thus acupuncture avoids the risks associated with such degree of invasiveness.

5. Herbs are more gentle and slower acting than pharmaceuticals.

True.  Herbs are derived from plants and some times animal parts.  They provide a natural alternative to synthetic pharmaceuticals, which may come with strong sides effects.

6. Acupuncture has risks and herbs can produce side effects.

True. These risks and sides effective are generally very mild compared to surgery and pharmaceuticals.

7. Acupuncture is expensive.

Depends.  If it works and saves you from expensive drugs and surgery, then it saves you money.  Some insurance plans do not cover acupuncture, so you want to ask your insurance company.  At Wang Acupuncture Clinic, we accept payment from the patient, but will help you deal with your insurance company so that they reimburse your for what they cover.

8. Acupuncture can treat everything effectively.

False. There is a lot western medicine can do that acupuncture and herbs can’t, hence the wholehearted and immediate adoption of western medicine in countries acupuncture is native to.

9. Acupuncture can treat a wide range of disease effectively.

True.  Acupuncture and herbs can be effective for such a diverse range of disease that no list I’m aware of is truly comprehensive, including the one on my website.  Overall, the American medical community and public do not yet have a full appreciation for all that acupuncture and herbs can do for patients.

10. We have no idea how acupuncture works in scientific terms.

Partially false. We have pretty good guesses backed up with some good studies, but there is much we don’t know.