How to find a Good Acupuncturist

An experienced & knowledgeable acupuncturist can speed up the effectiveness of a treatment with less visits and SAVE you money!

Acupuncture competency is gained through education by understanding foundation and it is a skill of years of training!! ONLY through experience and following the right mentor can an acupuncturist gain these skills.

Stay away from acupuncturists that have TOO MANY certifications because it is ONLY through experience and applying what they learn can an acupuncturist  gain skills from their knowledge.  Many of these certifications are marketing campaigns and nothing more.  Academic qualifications such as certifications does NOT necessarily qualify for experience.  Anyone can read books but to comprehend knowledge means practice and that is through years of experience or following a mentor.

One of the most important aspect of practicing medicine is that an acupuncturist must diagnose the condition correctly before inserting the needles or prescribing herbs.  This requires deep understanding of the theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

There are many other factors that can make a treatment more effective:
1.   Point location.  (Acupuncture points must be located precisely and many are only within 5mm.)
2.  Combination of acupuncture points creates a therapeutic effect.
3.  Finally, Needling Techniques.  (How the needles are manipulated with the hands can make a treatment much more effective.  In Chinese, we call this Shou Fa.)

An experienced acupuncturist will always offer Free Consultation because every good acupuncturist will know his skills and limitations.  There are some cases that are best referred out to another acupuncturist specialized in a particular area.

More importantly many patients are not getting satisfying results from acupuncture because the MAJORITY of the acupuncture performed in USA are not performed by acupuncturists!

In 2021, US Bureau of Labor Statistics discovered that roughly 98% of acupuncture performed in USA are NOT performed by LAc. (Licensed Acupuncturist!!) Below is a Pie Graph to indicate this sad reality.

Unfortunately in the USA, chiropractors, physical therapists, nurses and even some MDs have deceptively mislead the public into believing they have the skills to perform acupuncture effectively.  Only LAc. can perform HIGH QUALITY acupuncture with results!!

Chiropractors, physical therapists, nurses and MDs only require about 100 hours of training to get a certification to be approved to use acupuncture needles for their profession.  Where as an acupuncturist has to get a degree in TCM which requires several years plus get clinical training through internship of 3000 hours.  Then afterwards get nationally certified through NCCAOM then follow individual state law requirements to practice.

Who would you rather get treatment with for acupuncture service?  Someone with 100 hours or 3000 hours of training?  Or the better question is….are you getting REAL Acupuncture or FAKE Acupuncture?

Physical therapist and chiropractors called their usage of acupuncture needles “dry-needling” to by-pass state laws, which is very deceptive.  People have been seriously injured from these “dry-needling.”

The first step to finding a good acupuncturist is to find them through NCCAOM. Second step is to check and see if the acupuncturist is licensed by your state medical board.  Afterwards find out which mentors they followed to gain their acupuncture skills.  A good acupuncturist will always use herbs or combine it with acupuncture to treat ailments.