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The chief advantage of the modern approach, so far as Western health
professionals are concerned, is that it can easily be assimilated to
the rest of their training. Also, it has given rise to some new forms of
treatment, such as periosteal acupuncture, that did not form part of the
traditional system. A very important feature is that it is quick to
perform so that a good number of patients can be treated at a sitting.
There is a school of thought which holds that if you do non-traditional
acupuncture you can treat "simple" disorders such as musculoskeletal pain
but not more "complicated" disorders, which require the traditional
methods. I don't subscribe to this view. For one thing, treating
musculoskeletal problems with needling is often more demanding
technically than treating, say, ulcerative colitis; for another, there is
actually very little to show that any kind of acupuncture has more
than a placebo effect, so claims for the superiority of any particular
method within acupuncture can only be a matter of personal opinion. For the
method I use I would claim only that it is at least as effective as any
other I have encountered, it is quick to perform, and it is compatible with
what we think we know at present about the mechanisms of acupuncture.
Acupuncture is not a complete system of medicine but rather a
therapeutic tool that can be used by a wide range of health
professionals. Its main advantages are that it works in some disorders
for which there is little or no effective treatment and that, in
competent hands, it is relatively safe. Much of acupuncture is concerned
with pain relief but it can also be used for certain non-painful
disorders.
To get an idea of the approach on which these courses are based, please
see my article Where to place
the needles and for how long?
Applying for a course
I teach courses regularly in London but am also available to travel
outside London and indeed to run courses abroad, outside the UK. The
exact structure and content of the courses varies somewhat according to
the professional audience for whom they are designed (doctors,
physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, nurses, or podiatrists).
These courses are suitable for health professionals with no previous
experience of acupuncture; in addition, post-basic courses are available
for people who have been practising acupuncture for some time and now
wish to look at the subject in a different way.
Please note that these courses are suitable only for people
who are currently members of a recognized statutory regulatory body.
They should also have access to an orthodox medical diagnosis.
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