News & information about acupuncture, TCM, Oriental medicine

Results from a recent study published in the Journal of Pain Research showed that acupuncture therapy, regardless of the type, was more effective in reducing pain than a placebo in the short and long term.

Former Hollywood star turned Charlottesville healer after Aug. 12, 2017

In Practice

Former actress, best known for her role alongside Madonna, Rosie O’Donald, and Gina Davis in A League Of Their Own, is now a practicing acupuncturist in Charlottesville, VA and helped to heal the community after the tragic event of August 2017.

How to Promote Winter Health With Traditional Chinese Medicine

Be Well

“Western medicine has done wonders for disease prevention and treatment. But when it comes to cold and flu season, ancient plant-based remedies retain an honored place in many households.”

Acupuncture for PMS

Acupuncture for PMS! "Every woman and menstrual cycle is different and PMS symptoms can vary greatly from one person to another. One woman might only experience a slight discomfort whereas another can be extremely affected. But the good news? Chinese medicine can...

BlueCross removes Oxycontin, adds acupuncture amid opioid crisis

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee will no longer cover prescriptions for Oxycontin. As an alternative to opioids, BCBS of Tennessee will now cover ACUPUNCTURE! Read the article in the

How to Promote Winter Health With Traditional Chinese Medicine

Be Well

“Western medicine has done wonders for disease prevention and treatment. But when it comes to cold and flu season, ancient plant-based remedies retain an honored place in many households.”

How ancient remedies are changing modern medicine

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Long overlooked by Western science, traditional Chinese treatments are yielding cutting-edge cures.

Spain plans to ban alternative medicine in health centres

Just Because

THE GUARDIAN: “The Spanish government has announced plans to eradicate alternative medicine such as acupuncture or homeopathy from health centres.”

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s secret appointments with ‘acupuncturist to the stars’ to calm wedding nerves

Just Because

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got ACUPUNCTURE to help de-stress before their wedding!

Acupuncture For Anxiety

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY: Research findings support acupuncture as a treatment for anxiety.

Research Finds Acupuncture Effective For Chronic Pain

“‘The results confirm and strengthen previous key findings that acupuncture has a clinically relevant effect compared with no acupuncture control,’ the authors wrote. These effects appeared to persist for at least 12 months after receiving acupuncture.”

Virtual reality helps Chinese medicine students learn acupuncture and doctors treat cancer

AOM Education

Chinese and Western medicine is being improved by VR applications, with acupuncture students at some medical universities in China using 3D body maps and surgeons tackling tumors conventional medicine cannot reach.

Number of Veterans Affairs facilities offering acupuncture growing rapidly

AOM in the Military

Over the past 7 years, the number of VHA facilities offering acupuncture has increased from 42% to 88%, according to an article published in a special issue on the use of acupuncture in the Veterans Health Administration in the peer-reviewed journal Medical Acupuncture.

Read the full special issue free through November 16, 2018

Acupuncture in the Emergency Room

Acupuncture is now being offered to emergency patients at Aurora West Allis Medical Center in Wisconsin.

Horses, Acupuncture!

With ACUPUNCTURE, “You can get pain control, you can get stress relief, you can help the horse feel a lot better.”

Why Chinese medicine is heading for clinics around the world

In Practice

The Journal NATURE: “For the first time, the World Health Organization will recognize traditional medicine in its influential global medical compendium.”

“Inclusion in ICD-11 is “a powerful tool for [health-care] providers to say this is legitimate medicine” to insurers,

Using Tai Chi to Build Strength

Tai Chi

NEW YORK TIMES: “If you’re not ready or not able to tackle strength-training with weights, resistance bands or machines, tai chi may just be the activity that can help to increase your stamina and

Study Finds More Women than Men Veterans with Chronic Pain Use Therapies Like Yoga and Acupuncture

WOMEN’S HEALTH ISSUES: Research supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development Service, the Iris Cantor-UCLA Women’s Health Center and The Greenwall Foundation finds women veteran patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain are more likely than men to use CIH therapies, with variations in CIH use rates by race/ethnicity and age.’

Can acupuncture for lower back pain prevent surgery?

Impact of acupuncture treatment on the lumbar surgery rate for low back pain in Korea: A nationwide matched retrospective cohort study.

Delaware Medicaid considering covering ACUPUNCTURE for pain.

New Jersey Medicaid already covers acupuncture for pain; Pennsylvania does not, and Delaware is considering it.

Acupuncture on different ocular blood flow parameters in patients with POAG

CLINICAL OPHTHALMOLOGY: The short-term effect of acupuncture on different ocular blood flow parameters in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma: a randomized, clinical study.

Underlying mechanism for lowering BP in hypertension with acupuncture

NATURE- SCIENTIFIC REPORTS: Repetitive Electroacupuncture Attenuates Cold-Induced Hypertension through Enkephalin in the Rostral Ventral Lateral Medulla.

Acupuncture therapy in treating migraine: results of a magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging study

JOURNAL OF PAIN RESEARCH: Acupuncture has been proven to be effective as an alternative therapy in treating migraine, but the pathophysiological mechanisms of the treatment remain unclear. This study investigated possible neurochemical responses to acupuncture treatment.

Acupuncture in laboratory animal medicine

The use of acupuncture in veterinary medicine has paralleled the trends observed in people, with an increasingly common use to remedy specific medical conditions. These conditions are commonly related to neurological dysfunction or orthopedic pain. Although pain relief is the …

Stricter reporting for Chinese medicine clinical trials

Featured Story, Just Because

The CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) Statement is an evidence-based set of recommendations for reporting the results of randomized controlled trials testing clinical interventions.

How Racism Gave Rise to Acupuncture for Addiction Treatment

Black Panthers and other activists brought the ancient Chinese practice into addiction medicine in New York in the 1970s.

Ernie Gets Acupuncture

Ernie the 36 year-old penguin gets new life after the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas treats him with acupuncture.

Why Acupuncture Works for Anxiety Relief

EVERYDAY HEALTH: Not just for pain, acupuncture is a natural way to treat anxiety. It works faster than therapy and keeps you drug-free.

Treating the Mind and Body: Integrating CAM Therapies into Neurology Practice

NEUROLOGY TODAY: “The US Food and Drug Administration earlier this year recommended that clinicians learn more about acupuncture and other alternate therapies for pain management. Two neurologists, who are both licensed acupuncturists, discuss the ways …

Slow Roll-Out for Acupuncture Program Aimed at Aiding N.H. Addicts

One year after New Hampshire moved to expand access to acupuncture for those struggling with addiction and mental health, the new law has yet to be rolled out.

Opioid Alternative Bill Passes in U.S. House of Representatives

The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously in favor of H.R. 6110, the MOST Act. The unanimously passed bill introduced by Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA 27) directs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to study barriers to accessing non-drug...

Understanding the Benefits of Acupuncture Treatment for Cancer Pain Management

CANCER NETWORK: A summary of the current evidence regarding the use of acupuncture for pain management in cancer patients. It includes a description of how acupuncture is thought to work and what the intervention entails, data on acupuncture for managing pain

Acupuncture shown to decrease the severity of insomnia among cancer survivors

American Academy of Family Physicians: A randomized clinical trial of cancer survivors showed that 8 weeks of either ACUPUNCTURE or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia decreased the severity of insomnia among cancer survivors.

Acupuncture for Chronic Pain in the Vermont Medicaid Population

A Prospective, Pragmatic Intervention Trial: Findings demonstrate that acupuncture treatment for chronic pain is feasible and well received by patients in the Vermont Medicaid population. Receiving care from Licensed Acupuncturists was associated with significant improvements in physical, functional, psycho-emotional, and occupational outcomes compared with before receiving acupuncture treatments.

Upcoming Study to Test Efficacy of Acupuncture in Treating Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

BMC NEUROLOGY: This partially double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial will examine the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for diabetic peripheral neuropathy in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus via nerve conduction studies

America Experiences More Pain Than Other Countries

THE ATLANTIC: “About a third of Americans said they feel aches and pains “very often” or “often”—more than people in any other country. Australia and Great Britain came close, but in the average nation only about 20 percent gave one of those responses. In the Philippines or South Africa, just 11 percent felt pain that often.”

Acupuncture possible treatment for dental anxiety

Research published in the European Journal of Integrative Medicine suggests that acupuncture could help people who experience dental anxiety.

As a doctor, I didn’t think much of acupuncture. Then the opioid crisis arrived

After my acupuncture session, I left the clinic feeling noticeably better than I had before I arrived. How could I explain it?

How Dog Acupuncture Could Change Your Pet’s Life

Naturally, animals might be a little curious when they see you working with the needles as an acupuncturist, but most often the insertion of needles goes unobserved.”…”I’ve only ever seen positive results from acupuncture

Self-acupressure for women with menstrual pain

Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology: Researchers from Germany’s Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin studied 221 women with severe period pain. In the randomized pragmatic trial, 58% of those that were taught to perform acupressure had reduced period pain, compared to 25 percent of women who weren’t practicing acupressure.

Dry Needling Law in Idaho Signed

Acupuncture Everywhere

Idaho Governor, Butch Otter, signed House Bill #505 on March 22, 2018, allowing Idaho physical therapists to practice dry needling. The bill overwhelmingly passed the Idaho House and Senate. The law was written broadly in order to be passed, additional laws in Idaho will have to be passed to regulate the practice before it can be legally used as a therapy.

Effect of tai chi versus aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia

Tai Chi

BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL: Tai chi is as good as – or even better than – aerobic exercise for aiding people with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, study suggests.

CSU Veterinarians Study Acupuncture In Dogs

Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, one of the top such hospitals in the world, is studying acupuncture for dogs.

New data shows opioid crisis is just getting worse

Data released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show emergency room visits for suspected opioid overdoses increased by 30 percent between July 2016 and September 2017.

Acupuncture Can Help Anxious Dogs

THE BARK: “In addition to positive reinforcement training, acupuncture and Chinese herbal therapy have been shown to greatly reduce canine anxiety.”

How acupuncture helped Chinese and US researchers pinpoint a new asthma drug

According to a paper published in the Science Translational Medicine journal, the drug therapy TSG12 is more effective than existing asthma medication and could see more applications of the traditional Chinese medicine in research.

Combination of Acupuncture and Physiotherapy Boosts Analgesia in Tension-Type Headaches

NEUROLOGY ADVISOR: Study shows patients with tension-type headaches experienced benefits from acupuncture and stretching, especially in combination with pressure pain threshold (PPT) physiotherapy hands-on techniques.

Could Ancient Remedies Hold the Answer to the Looming Antibiotics Crisis?

AOM in Sports, Integrative Health

NEW YORK TIMES: Emory University ethnobotanist, Cassandra Quave, thinks the drugs of the future might come from the past: botanical treatments long overlooked by Western medicine.

Olympic Village’s Polyclinic Offers Full Range of Medical Services, Including Acupuncture

Located at each of the PyeongChang and Gangneung Olympic Villages, medical polyclinics boast a wealth of medical services, from orthopedics and pain management to physiotherapy and acupuncture. The polyclinics are open to anyone authorized to enter the Olympic Village. This is the first time that acupuncture will be made available in a Winter Olympics.

Bears burned in Southern California wildfires treated holistically, and are now back home in the wild

LA TIMES: Two bears that were badly burned in last month’s Southern California wildfires are back in the wild after doctors used Acupuncture and other alternative treatments to save them.

As the opioid crisis grows, states are opening Medicaid to alternative medicine

"Under intense pressure to combat the problem, states across the country are expanding their Medicaid programs to cover alternative treatments such as acupuncture, massage, and yoga. The effort could increase non-opioid options for low-income patients suffering from...

Minneapolis VA Opens Healing Center

AOM in the Military

On December 12, 2017, the Minneapolis VA Medical Center (VAMC) celebrated the opening of the new Integrative Center for Health & Healing, offering acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, mindfulness meditation, yoga nidra, integrative nutrition, among other things.

Acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome

UroToday: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a common condition affecting men of all ages. Acupuncture may be an effective treatment option for CP/CPPS, but evidence is limited. We propose to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in a rigorously conducted trial.

Acupuncture in the National Basketball Association

AOM in Sports

NBA players trying acupuncture to relieve pain, maximize effectiveness.

Electrotherapy, Acupuncture Reduce Opioid Consumption After TKA

39 randomized clinical trials of common nondrug interventions used in the meta-analysis involved 2,391 patients. “We found moderate-certainty evidence that acupuncture and electrotherapy reduced or delayed patients’ opioid use….”

Everything You Should Know About Functional Medicine

SHAPE MAGAZINE: Natural remedies and alternative medicine are nothing new, but they’re definitely becoming more popular. A couple decades ago, people might have thought acupuncture, cupping, and aromatherapy were a little kooky, but increasingly, people are trying them—and seeing results.

Acupuncture in cancer study reignites debate about controversial technique

One of the largest-ever clinical trials into whether acupuncture can relieve pain in cancer patients has reignited a debate over the role of this contested technique in cancer care.

Acupuncture May Ease Pain Tied to Breast Cancer Care

US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT: Some common breast cancer medications can trigger joint pain, but new research suggests acupuncture may ease that side effect.

How ‘battlefield acupuncture’ helps Air Force Ravens stay in the fight

AOM in the Military

“Despite the treatment’s name, the Air Force Surgeon General considers Battlefield Acupuncture a force readiness asset across all career fields. As such, BFA is a key component in the implementation of an Integrated Medicine approach throughout the force.”

The History of Acupuncture

Just Because

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS: The History of Acupuncture as a slideshow!

New Joint Commission Pain Standards a Good Start, but Devil’s in the Details: Experts

PAIN MEDICINE NEWS: New and revised standards for pain assessment and management released by the Joint Commission are a positive move toward patient-centered care, experts said, adding that lack of specificity regarding interventional pain treatment could lead to confusion.

A New Venue for Providing Catalytic Global Communications to Promote Health and Healing

Global Advances in Health and Medicine (Global Advances) now serves as the official publication of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health. The publications serves an as international forum to facilitate broader dialogue and collaboration among healthcare providers from various disciplines, and across diverse practice patterns, cultures, and industry fields.

Amid Opioid Crisis, States Start Embracing Alternative Medicine

It isn’t news that the medical community is grappling with how to reduce dependence on prescription painkillers. As the opioid epidemic remains front and center, some places are experimenting with alternative therapies such as acupuncture, massage and yoga. Oregon is pioneering the practice, mandating not only that insurance providers cover these therapies but also that they be given priority over prescriptions.

How the Body and Brain Achieve Carpal Tunnel Pain Relief via Acupuncture

New research describes how acupuncture may achieve local pain-relieving effects in people with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) while also showing effects of the technique in the brain’s pain centers. The study, funded in part by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and conducted by a multicenter team of scientists at

Acupuncture for Chronic Severe Functional Constipation: A Randomized Trial

ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: A randomized trials shows eight weeks of electro-acupuncture increased complete spontaneous bowel movements and is safe for the treatment of chronic severe functional constipation.

Vermont considers adding acupuncture to Medicaid

Acupuncture Everywhere

“Patients want it. Clinicians want it,” said Cara Feldman-Hunt, program director of UVM Integrative Health. She said the University of Vermont Medical Center will cover the cost of acupuncture for cancer patients during an upcoming pilot period.

Should MDs Embrace or Reject Alternative Treatments?

MEDSCAPE: Watch the video here: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/886987

Emperor’s College Grads Score 100% CALE Pass Rate

AOM Education

Emperor’s College graduates score a 100% pass rate on the August 2017 California Acupuncture Licensing Exam. This is the second CALE in a row that 100% of the Emperor’s College grads passed on their first attempt!

Acupuncture’s Role in Solving the Opioid Epidemic