(a lot of my father’s patients seemed to think it cute to give him cactus-related things–get it, needles?–so hence the picture)
Friends and acquaintances have been asking about how to find a good acupuncturist, especially as they see how much better I look after seeing Dr. Jiao. The good thing about where I live is that it’s small, and the university community is even smaller–everyone knows where the best place is to get sweet Portuguese bread, that there is a great noodle place in one of the nearby strip malls, and we pass the name of this possibly 80-year-old man who is a great furniture slipcover maker. Similarly, that’s how I found Dr. Jiao and how he is getting new clients through me.
For my sister, however, who has a boyfriend with migraines, I am recommending the American Academy of Acupunture and Oriental Medicine. Their website if www.aasom.org. It’s about as close as you can get to an accreditation organization.
Unfortunately, quality varies. I’ve head friends who talk about dirty needles, a guy forgetting and leaving the needles in, etc. Ugh!
The general rule of thumb is, number one, clean needles. Dr. Jiao uses disposable needles, which are the best. Does the practitioner wash his/her hands between patients? In general I have also found it helpful if the “doctor” was or is also a medical doctor, to help distinguish between things you can treat with acupuncture and things you can’t–many diseases are masked by pesky outside symptoms.
And you shouldn’t bleed excessively, or really even at all. The practitioner should wipe the area with alcohol before and after, and during the treatment, there shouldn’t be any blood. Occasionally when the needle is removed, you’ll get a little, but only a drop or two, no more. It also shouldn’t hurt much, either–I’d say the pricks are less painful than the one you get when giving blood.
Most good acupuncturists accept some insurance, as acupuncture is now an accepted health treatment. Our run of the mill plan does.
And, as always, word of mouth helps. Most acute problems will have some result after a few treatments. If you’re seeing someone 80 times and they keep encouraging you to keep trying, I’d beware. For fertility related issues, Dr. Jiao says usually only a few treatments is enough to see if it’s going to work, or not.
Some practitioners also use herbs. I take some kidney-balancing stuff Dr. Jiao gives me and I also use Chinese herbs that I buy myself. However, I would be careful about foreign-made preparations, as I have heard they can some times contain lead and other contaminants from the packaging or if they use old equipment to process it.
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