Chinese Herbs

[Guest guest]

Dear Colleagues,

 

Due to the information that has come to light this past year about herbal

medicines and other products coming out of China that has been tainted in one

way or another, I am finding more of my patients are increasingly resistant to

taking " Chinese " herbs. They are concerned about purity and safety. I have

received letters from several herbal manufacturers addressing this very issue in

recent months, intended to assure me that they take the most stringent measures

to use substances that are free of drugs, chemicals, toxins, organisms, and are

the proper species. While that is well and good, I find sharing these articles

with my patients does nothing to assuage their concern, and further, advertising

that I offer Chinese Herbal Medicine is, at this point in time, viewed rather

suspiciously - rather than as an attractive, healthy alternative to

pharmaceutical drugs with their incipient host of side effects.

 

So I find I am experimenting with the wording on my business cards and other

advertising. Mainly, I find I am leaving out the word " Chinese " ! My most

recent wordage attempts are " Acupuncture and Herbal Therapies " or " Acupuncture

and Herbal Medicines " , or " Acupuncture and Asian Herbal Medicine " , but these

sound wishy-washy to me. I am personally proud of the lineage of Chinese Herbal

Medicine, yet I find I cannot reconcile it with the public fear that surrounds

medicinal substances coming from China and all of Asia right now. They are

suspect in the public eye - at least in the part of Arizona where I currently

live and practice.

 

So I am writing to you, my esteemed colleagues, to ask whether you are also

encountering this phenomenon in your part of the world, and how you are

responding to it. Are you also looking for a different way to promote the

herbal part of your practice? Are you doing public education talks on the

subject? Are you handling it one-on-one with your clients? Or are you waiting

for this storm to pass? What do you find is working, and what is not?

 

In a similar vein, I also find my NCCAOM designation, Dipl. OM, to be useless.

People do not know what Oriental Medicine is, and further, to many people who

don't know any better, " Oriental " , is identical with " Chinese " ... thus bringing

up the suspicions and wariness I mentioned above.

 

So before I go about trying to reinvent how I conceive of the work I do and how

to present it to the public in a more " palatable " and less threatening way, I

thought I'd ask your input. I know you're a fantastically creative bunch, and I

imagine this issue is affecting you and your practice in one way or another.

Perhaps we can find solutions together. You may contact me off-list or on.

 

All blessings for a happy, healthy and abundant new year,

 

 

 

 

 

 

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