To Poke, Or Not to Poke: Part I

Acupuncture is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of ill-gotten fortune, or to take arms against a sea of skeptics. And by opposing, offend them? To lie: to cheat: no more; and by cheat to say we extend the heart-ache of the thousand unnatural stabs that flesh is heir to, ‘tis a confabulation cautiously to be wish’d. To lie, to chi; to cheat: perchance to scheme, ay there’s the rub…

Okay, enough of that silliness. Shakespeare must be rolling in his grave. I know that acupuncture is used to treat insomnia, but how about “restless death syndrome?” Bill, I’ll have to get back to you after reviewing the literature.

Recently I have come full circle in my life. Let me explain. As a child, I had a yearning to make people feel better. This is why learning acupuncture seemed like a logical ambition while I was in undergraduate school after I met an anesthesiologist who offered this service to her ailing patients in the hospital. After all, I was an aspiring anesthesiologist at that time (in an effort to avoid tangentiality, I’ll defer that interesting story to a future blog).

However, my feelings toward acupuncture took a 180-degree turn while I was in medical school. This was an interesting moment in time, when my school, along with many others, was having a larger emphasis on “integrative medicine.” To me this felt very forced. It seemed to run counter to everything that I had expected from my medical education. Rather than teaching complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as something to be aware that our patients may be using or interested in, they spoke of these practices (chiropractic, acupuncture, unproven herbal therapies, etc.) as if these were legitimate alternatives to standard medical practice… without any real evidence to support their use. The kicker came when I talked with an anesthesiologist/acupuncturist whose patients absolutely loved her and her in-hospital treatments. But when asked about the treatments and how it worked, she discussed it in terms of “energy,” “meridians,” and “chi” and I lost all respect for her and the practice as a whole. As a skeptic who is versed in the tradition and literature of acupuncture, I have only grown more disdainful of this branch of voodoo medicine, especially when outrageous medical claims are evoked.

But now, as I am hurdling toward my final year of anesthesia residency with the goal of entering a fellowship in pain management, I, the venerable “anti-puncturist,” am considering becoming a medical acupuncturist in addition to my more traditional training.

Wait, wait, wait.

Hold the phone.

Stop the presses.

If you are reading this you must be very confused, or at least think that I am deeply confused. On the latter you are correct, and on the former I will let you decide.

So, let me explain to you the course of events that led me to consider acupuncture training. Then I will discuss the pros and cons the way that I see them. And maybe along the way I will either convince myself that this is a good decision, or talk myself out of all of this craziness completely.

Tune in soon folks. Oh, I can’t wait see what I decide… I’m getting really impatient… maybe I’ll just ask my psychic.

DoR

Remote Healing "cured" my heart attack

This is no April Fools joke, although I wish it were.... Here is a post that I put up on a private chat room in mid-March that I thought you would enjoy… Bon Appétit!

So a couple of days ago I did a google search on "remote healing" (also known as distant healing) and got 681,000 hits (nearly all proponents of, or people offering this service). I clicked on the second non-sponsored link at www.reiki.7gen.com/healing-requests.php (Yes, there were 3 sponsored links: Crystal Clear Readings, Powerful Remote Healings, and Remote Healing Works!). Just put in location, e-mail and symptoms or disease and the group of "volunteers" will send their mystical healing powers my way. As a disclaimer, this does not take the place of a more "personalized" reiki treatment (as if that would work any better).

I typed in my real location, name and e-mail, but I put my symptoms as "dull chest pain/pressure and shortness of breath." I usually look for the best in people was hopeful that one of the volunteers might show some semblance of humanity and suggest that I go to the hospital or at least talk to a physician.

Sadly, I was wrong. Within 24 hours I had 3 e-mail messages:

#1: generic e-mail stating my symptoms and promising to heal me remotely. If I like the services, visit their website at www...

#2: "Russell, I am a Reiki Master with more than eight years of tremendous success in distance healing and changing luck. Your appeal moved me deeply. I will devote the next three days doing intensive energy work for you. You may also be interested in joining this unique group. It works!"

#3: "Dear Russell, I have success with the most serious conditions. I encourage you to visit my web site for some encouragement."

It’s sad and disappointing, but not completely unexpected. I plan on playing this out to see where it goes.

BTW, my chest just started hurting...

Just so you know, healing from a distance is something that a Reiki practitioner must be able to do to become a "Second Degree Reiki Practitioner." According to wiki: "Second Degree is able to heal others distantly (commonly called distant healing) with the use of specialized symbols."

But if you want to be a Third Degree or “Reiki Master” (like Dr. Oz's crazy wife) you must be "able to teach and attune others to Reiki."

I wonder if remote or distance healing is like homeopathy in that the "Energy Healing" gets stronger at further distances (i.e. dilute the energy down to its pure essence). Would I be better off with a healer from China, or better yet, a distant planet??? (Wow, I hope that I did not just spawn a whole new industry of "Homeopathic Remote Healing," afterall these kind of crackpots are always looking for a new way to take advantage of people and trick them out of their hard-earned money).

For anybody interested in an update... I e-mailed back to the remote healers to tell them that my symptoms were deteriorating and that I could now barely get out of bed. Why isn't their healing working? No responses as of yet. If evil exists, this is what it looks like.

DoR