Acutonics and Placebo

Acutonics has been getting some attention lately. For a couple of years I have been incorporating some of the techniques in my practice with a pair of Om Tuning Forks. The majority of my patients give a positive review. What I like about this piece is the quote about placebo effect:"One out of three people, which is a pretty big number, get relief from placebos because pain is a mind/body type of phenomenon." What's wrong with that? I would love to be able to placebo away my ailments - a placebo pill is usually safer than the real thing! I find it amusing when people dismiss a modality because it is unfamiliar or because they don't want to accept it by saying, "it's just the placebo effect." I hear that a lot with students in the western medicine field because to them, if you can't be objectively...

2008 Sensationlism

Both Oprah and US News and World Report are talking about acupuncture (and CAM in general). What a boon to the profession!From Oprah.com:Oprah is ready to take a step toward the frontier of medicine…but she's a little scared of the whole needle part. Daniel was ready to ease her fears. "The needles that [Daniel] is going to use would actually fit through the hole in the needle that they use to take the blood from your arm," Dr. Oz says."Acupuncture treats any condition from allergies to, obviously, pain to gastrointestinal issues—a wide range of chronic diseases," Daniel says.Oprah doesn't suffer from those particular ailments, so Daniel recommends a wellness acupuncture treatment, which will help boost Oprah's immune system. This normally requires about 10 needles, he says, and the positive...