[Acupuncture-students] Great 10, no need to diagnos. Says who?

[KenRosenb at aol.com]

All of this talk of the so called "Great 10" and the fact that people are 
using it, indeed raises some issues worthy of discussion.
Please, Let's not forget that Miriam Lee was in a unique situation.   She was 
more or less triaging patients via a line out her back door.   As far as I 
know, most of us don't have such a line.   In addition to this, Miriam is a 
highly skilled and experienced practitioner of acupuncture.   Her understanding of 
technique and the characteristics of individual points is much deeper than 
what is being taught in schools these days.   The technique she applied to each 
point and the degree to which she applied that technique varied with each 
patient, the presenting illness, and their overall condition.  Her needles came in 
contact with gobs and gobs of Qi.   (Not something being encouraged by many 
teachers these days) If you talk to anyone that has been needled by her, they 
can describe for you the strong sensation on each point.   She mentions in her 
book, for example, that when she needles Stomach-36, the sensation goes down 
the leg, into the toes, and in some cases beyond.

The current trend in the schools seems (Note: this is only my opinion, I 
obviously don't know what's happening behind the doors of each and every school) 
to be teaching to the lowest common denominator, making us more and more like 
technicians.   I don't believe in putting in x amount of needles bilaterally, 
waiting for 20 minutes, and then you're done.   I feel we have to work for it 
more than that.   
I put in needles, and get Qi, I look for signs that the needles are indeed 
interacting with the qi of the point/meridian, and beyond.   Then as gently as I 
can, I maintain this effect through out the course of the treatment, which 
for some patients needs to be more than 20 minutes. The less I have to mess with 
it, the better.   It's like plate spinning, keep all them plates spinning.   
Maintain the effects.

Unfortunately, I have not come into contact with many books or practitioners 
that put an emphasis on technique.   The ones that do, however, seem to get 
more done with less points.   One book spells out two treatments for catch cold, 
one with sweating, one without.   Each treatment had the same point 
selection, it was the technique that was changed to bring about the desired result.

My desire is to maintain a high level of care for our patients in order to 
maintain a high standard for our profession.

Having success using "The Great 10" without thinking about diagnosis speaks 
more about the power of our medicine than to the talents of any practitioner 
doing such.
The most important step, in my opinion, is to make a CLEAR Diagnosis, from 
there points can be selected, and then technique.   Not making a diagnosis is a 
lazy shortcut to thinking.   
If the diagnosis is not clear to you (and this may happen, there are many 
times that experienced practitioners run into situations when there are things 
they don't know about the patients condition) go with what you do know, this 
will grow with each visit.

Thanks for listening.
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