Acupuncture News
News Archive
12-14-04
Relief is just a pinprick away: Medical doctor turns to acupuncture for pain management
Staff Writer THE ADVOCATE
Dr. Halina Snowball is a physiatrist, a
specialist in pain.
For years she treated patients who had chronic backaches, tennis elbows and
carpal tunnel syndrome with a combination of drugs and rehabilitation.
Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't. And when it didn't, Snowball was
frustrated.
"Pain," says Snowball, "can really change the whole quality of your life. I
wanted to do more to help, but sometimes, I ran out of options."
Then, Snowball tried acupuncture. Her patients, like professional golfer
Fred Couples, sometimes reported relief they hadn't experienced in years.
"When I first tried it and got results, I have to admit I thought, 'This is
wonderful, but crazy,' " says Snowball, who had no exposure to acupuncture
during most of her medical training. "In medicine we love to see the science
and studies and clinical proof for everything. Even I can't explain exactly
how it works. But with acupuncture, seeing is believing."
Indeed, acupuncture, a practice once largely limited to holistic
practitioners trained in the Chinese medical art, is experiencing increased
interest and credibility with medical doctors. Stamford Hospital now offers
outpatient acupuncture to patients at its cancer center. Dr. Woodson
Merrell, a consultant to Greenwich Hospital's integrative medicine program,
is a specialist in internal medicine who routinely uses acupuncture in his
private practice. "I use it for everything from chronic asthma to back pain
and irritable bowel syndrome," says Merrell, an associate professor at the
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. "When I first
started doing it 20 years ago, it was kind of a novelty for an internist,
but it really isn't anymore."
Physicians like Snowball and Dr. Aris Barbadimos, a specialist in physical
medicine and pain management who works in Stamford for New York-Connecticut
Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Specialists, are part of a growing number of
private physicians' groups that include medical doctors trained in
acupuncture. Their ranks include orthopedists, physiatrists, internists and
fertility specialists.
Their growing presence in Fairfield County mirrors a national trend. In
1991, when the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture was founded, its
membership was 120 members. Today, there are 1,800 members. The
organization's executive director, James Dowden, estimates real numbers of
physicians using acupuncture at between 6,000 and 7,000.
These doctors are distinguished from hundreds of other licensed
acupuncturists practicing in Connecticut and other parts of the country who
have advanced training, but do not have Western medical degrees.
"What's changed is that acupuncture has gotten real credibility with people
in the medical community who were once skeptics," explains Dowden. "It is
not a fringe thing anymore."
A growing body of research, including a major initiative by the National
Institutes of Health, was among those that concluded acupuncture had real
merit as a treatment option for a variety of ailments. "And that shouldn't
surprise us," says Snowball, "considering it's been around for about 5,000
years. It's the most substantiated, most researched and most beneficial of
the so-called alternative therapies."
Acupuncture advocates explain the practice, which involves the insertion of
tiny needles along energy channels known as meridians, can help ease chronic
conditions like asthma, functional problems such as infertility, and pain
brought on by a variety of causes. A recent study conducted at Duke
University concluded that acupuncture is an effective treatment for
post-operative nausea. So it's not surprising that cancer patients find it
helpful with nausea caused by chemotherapy, says Merrell.
A typical acupuncture session with a medical doctor lasts about 30 minutes
and costs between $100 and $150 in Fairfield County. Most insurance plans do
not pay, although that is gradually changing as the practice gains more
acceptance. Doctors describe the pain of needle insertion as minimal and say
a sense of euphoria often envelops recipients.
"At first I said to myself, 'This has got to be voodoo,' " says Barbadimos,
who is board-certified in internal medicine and pain management. He first
saw acupuncture demonstrated at a medical conference in San Francisco. And
he had to be dragged out of bed by a colleague who begged him to attend the
lecture.
"I thought maybe I would sleep during the lecture," he says. "But when I got
there, everything changed. This guy came in with a nagging back. The doctor
stuck a few needles in him and the guy felt better. This went on throughout
the day." More patients, more needles, more relief. Soon, a thoroughly
impressed Barbadimos was studying acupuncture at UCLA.
Now acupuncture is a regular part of his practice, something he prescribes
as often as medication. Sometimes he uses it alone, but often, he says, it
is part of a patient's comprehensive treatment plan. "There may be pain
medication and rehabilitation involved as well," he says, adding that
acupuncture is rarely a lone cure for a chronic problem and it cannot
eradicate disease.
Snowball says it's extremely important for patients to understand that
acupuncture is rarely a curative.
"I can make the pain go away for a while, but we also have to go after
what's causing it," she says. "If I make your back better and you go out and
play 36 holes of golf the next day. Well ..."
Says Barbadimos: "You just can't stick a few needles in someone because
their neck hurts or they have a bum elbow and expect them to feel better.
You absolutely have to understand the underlying cause." He adds that is one
reason why going to someone with a medical degree for acupuncture is
helpful. "You get their diagnostic skills," he says. "As well as their
knowledge of acupuncture."
Acupuncturists who lack Western medical degrees can argue, justifiably, says
Merrell, that their training in Chinese medicine is superior. "They usually
have thousands of more hours of training in acupuncture than we do," he
says. "And they often have extensive training in Chinese herbs and dietary
theories that we lack."
Still, he says, that's not a reason to favor one type of acupuncturist over
another. "It's really a matter of finding a good practitioner who works for
you," he says. "Some patients are more comfortable when that person has an
M.D."
Last year, Snowball got some national exposure when PGA golfer Couples
credited her with alleviating his chronic back pain on the eve of The Buick
Classic in Westchester County, N.Y. In the fall, Couples flew Snowball by
helicopter to Bethpage, N.Y., to treat him as he was playing in the U.S.
Open. Snowball ended up treating several golfers Couples was sharing a house
with, including tour professional Mark Calcavecchia, who played the Open
sporting two needles Snowball inserted in his ear.
"I don't know what she does," Couples told the golf press after the Buick
tournament. "But it's working and I'm going back."
Despite those successes, Snowball such she preaches care and moderation to
her regular patients. She recently gave a seminar for professional golfers
at the Round Hill Club in Greenwich. She advises athletes to consider
moderate strength training and yoga. "Acupuncture can only do so much," she
says. "Sometimes it seems like a miracle cure, but you still have to help
yourself get better."
