73 year old woman with osteoarthritis of both knees. Using a cane, can't take stairs. Asks MD about acupuncture, he scoffs and says he prefers "traditional" treatments like synvisc, which has been used for less than three years. After four acupuncture treatments, she is taking stairs and often forgets to use her cane because she doesn't feel the need.
I find it amusing and ridiculous that the medicine that I practice is considered "alternative" or "non-traditional" but the drugs that are brand new and hardly-studied are considered "traditional". I am not against drugs, I just worry about the ones that have not been studied enough. We have had several instances where the new "miracle drug" had to be pulled off the market because it was killing people. This is one of the things I love about practicing Oriental medicine. It is so safe and well-studied. I do not do anything to a patient that has been studied for less than 1000 years.
Oriental medicine should be our first line of medicine. We should start with the least-invasive and longest-studied interventions. If it doesn't work, then we can go to the more potentially-harmful and potentially-toxic interventions.
Rethink what you consider "traditional" medicine.
btw, if you'd like to read about some of the adverse effects of synvisc, check out http://synviscsurvivor.blogspot.com/
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