Recently some blurring of professional boundaries in the acupuncture profession has caused many Licensed Acupuncturists and Oriental Medicine Doctors concern – concern that should be shared by the public. For example, dry needling is the practice of non-acupuncturists needling patients for therapeutic benefit. It is called “dry” needling as opposed to “wet” meaning that the needles are not used hypodermically to draw blood or inject fluids. Physical therapists and chiropractors may add DN to their offerings with just 27 hours of training, though in the cases of Chiropractic colleges, adding acupuncture as a specialty usually requires 100-200 additional hours. Certified medical acupuncture training for physicians is 300 hours. Recently at an international pain conference, Prof. Rollin Gallagher, from the University of Pennsylvania, and editor of the academic journal Pain Medicine recommended that physicians learn acupuncture as a “basic tool” to reduce opioid use. I agree that acupuncture is effective for reducing reliance on pain medication, but is 300 hours of additional training comparable to four years of Oriental Medicine school? Wouldn’t it be presumptuous of me, a trained Oriental Medicine Doctor, to think I could learn physical therapy in 27 hours? How about if I were to perform chiropractic adjustments after only 100 hours of continuing education? Ridiculous, yes? Dangerous, too.
Patients must realize that to use acupuncture needles is not to practice Oriental Medicine. A thorough understanding of Oriental Medical theory and diagnosis will yield the most powerful results for patients suffering stagnation and disharmony due not only to muscular-skeletal issues, but other issues in internal medicine as well. While placing needles into painful areas – or trigger points – as taught in the DN classes may result in alleviation of symptoms, such methods treat just as symptomatically as throwing drugs at the problem. There is nothing wrong with treatments intended for a palliative result, but in Oriental Medicine, the goal is always to treat the root, not just the symptom, or branch. Methods used are not limited to needles, but other modalities such as moxibustion, cupping, massage, qi gong, and most powerfully – herbal medicine.
As of this writing, Nevada does not allow chiropractors or physical therapists to use acupuncture needles to treat patients. Furthermore, for acupuncturists, the state of Nevada requires OMD candidates to have completed a minimum of 4 years of full-time post-graduate study at an accredited Oriental Medicine School. Required hours total more than 3000, including observation and supervised practice in a clinical setting. Acupuncture / Oriental Medicine’s educational scope includes chemistry, biochemistry, anatomy & physiology, pathology, clinical medicine, lab and radiology – in addition to practical and theoretical courses in acupuncture, OM theory and herbal medicine. We are trained professionals with tools and theory from ancient traditions, but our education emphasizes modern clinical practice. We deserve to have our professional boundaries respected so that patients can best benefit from all that Oriental Medicine has to offer.