The world’s spotlight shined on China during the Beijing Olympics last month, but the country’s athletics aren’t the only focus of fascination for Westerners. In recent years, Chinese medicine—acupuncture, herbs, massage and other alternative healing practices—have risen in popularity, particularly in the United States.

Acupuncture alone has drawn followers who believe the ancient practice is the key to maintaining health. According to the 2002 National Health Interview Study, more than 8 million Americans have used acupuncture, and the number has likely increased in the six years since the study was conducted.

The myths surrounding acupuncture and its efficacy are numerous, the foremost being that the 5,000-year-old practice causes pain. Photos of acupuncture patients typically show a large number of needles penetrating the skin’s surface in a particular area. Many people resist acupuncture due to what they perceive will be a painful experience.

Dr. Sharon Roth, an acupuncturist licensed by the Nevada State Board of Oriental Medicine, said she often sees patients who have exhausted all other options before trying acupuncture, which makes it more difficult for her to treat them.

“Almost every single person who walks in here is pleasantly surprised at how uneventful the experience is—that it’s as mild of a sensation as it is—when they expected it to be so much more intense,” Roth said. “Because of their preconceptions, they don’t get here until they’re in a lot of pain. Things have really deteriorated before they get to me. Which is too bad, because it’s easier to treat them when we get them right at the beginning.”

Many would-be patients are also wary of acupuncture because they’re not sure how the practice helps in the healing process. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, acupuncture restores balance to the body, using needles on specific points to unblock pathways down which qi (or “vital energy”) travels. There are 14 pathways and more than 2,000 acupuncture points.

Western researchers have studied the effect of stimulating points on the body using MRI machines. For instance, when a patient’s toe is stimulated, the brain’s visual cortex lights up “like the Fremont Street Experience,” Roth said. According to the annals of Chinese medicine, using acupuncture on the toe can improve vision.

Roth said she respects Western medicine and its capabilities, laughing at the idea that someone should see an acupuncturist instead of a surgeon for severe injuries.

“If I get hit by a bus, God forbid, take me to the ER,” Roth said. “I do not want to go straight to my acupuncturist if I’ve got a couple of legs broken and my spleen needs to be removed. That’s not the time that I would want to go to acupuncture.”

However, many of Roth’s patients have undergone surgeries and taken prescription medications that merely exacerbated their already serious conditions, problems common in Western medicine.

“The things that are suggested for treatment for some of those problems that are going on, sometimes they do more harm than good,” Roth said. “I know this because people come to me and they say, ‘I’ve had shots, I’ve had surgery, and I’m worse off now than when I started.’ And through all of it, nobody’s ever laid a hand on them. They’ve cut into them with scalpels, but they’ve never put a hand on their body and felt where it’s tight and where it’s lax and where people are holding and what they’re holding, and they’ve certainly never asked them what they feel about their pain, or where the patient thinks that the pain came from.

“There are lots of dimensions to being human that seem to get missed oftentimes when getting treated in Western scenarios. But I don’t think that it’s a contest between Western medicine and Eastern at all. I think both have their strengths, and I’m grateful for both of them, and it’s up the patient, the consumer, really, to figure out what’s going to be the best choice for them in various situations.”

In fact, Western and Eastern medicine often complement each other, though Roth said she thinks Western medicine is criticized for being too “disease-focused,” whereas Chinese medicine is centered around maintaining health.

“In ancient China, people used to come see the acupuncturist for maintenance and wellness, and they would only pay the acupuncturist as long as they were well,” Roth said. “If they became sick, they would go back to get better, but that’s when they would stop paying. It was kind of wellness therapy as opposed to illness therapy.”

Acupuncture can help patients remain healthy with regular sessions, though most only see Roth when they are in severe pain.

“A lot of people don’t start their healing journey at the acupuncturist,” Roth said. “Hopefully they’re ending their healing journey here, and we finally resolve something. And hopefully they don’t have to go on beyond that.”

Roth often sees patients with chronic work-related problems like back and neck strain, tendonitis, knee and shoulder injuries and headaches. She recommends visiting an acupuncturist once every few months to maintain health, minimize stress and alleviate pain.

By Caitlin McGarry

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