Affordable Acupuncture for the Working Class

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Look for someone who is well educated in the field of Acupuncture. Eastern and Western medicine have very different ways of looking at health, disease, injuries, diagnosis and treatment. Look for "L.Ac." after the person's name. This mean's "Licensed Acupuncturist" which means they have thousands of hours of training specifically in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and not just a couple of hundred hours like many MD's and other professions do

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. In Connecticut, If you are an MD, Chiropractor, Naturopath, Dentist, Podiatrist, Physical Therapist it is legal to do acupuncture with NO training whatsoever. There is a loop-hole in Connecticut state law that "recommends" training, but does not "require" it from those professions. Many of the other professions will get 100-300 hours worth of training, but does not compare to the thousands of hours a Licensed Acupuncturist will have relating directly to the field of Eastern medicine. See advice above to understand why this can be an issue.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. What is the practitioner's Connecticut State "Acupuncture" License number? Many practitioners will give you a Connecticut State "Medical Doctor's" License number or a "Chiropractic Physician" number, but once you have the number you can check with the state of Connecticut's "License Look Up System."

www.elicense.ct.gov

To be sure the practitioner is a Licensed Acupuncturists it must say "Acupuncturist" in the credential description.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Yes, I do quite a bit of continuing education and I enjoy doing it. Continuing education is one of the great things about my job. Before I got into Acupuncture profession, I wanted to do something that I wouldn't get bored with and that I could always get better at. There is so much to learn about in the field of Acupuncture and Oriental medicine that there is always room for growth. In addition to the growth potential as a person and practitioner, doing continuing education classes help to get re-energized and refocused about what and why I'm in the clinic doing my thing.