Discussing Chinese vs. Allopathic Medicine With Your Patients

By Billy Reddy, LAc

Articulating the benefits of AOM in comparison to allopathic medicine to a new patient can be a challenging task. This article offers various approaches to this discussion. One of the most critical points to remember is that AOM is a foreign concept to most Americans. Outright disrespect for conventional medicine will not endear you to your patients. There are quite a few Americans who are disenchanted with our current medical system, but we need to be very careful in presenting our side of the story.

I usually begin by extolling the strengths of Western medicine: “I really appreciate the strength of Western medicine’s diagnostic technologies. There are MRIs and angiograms, blood work, and endoscopies. This critical information about your condition makes my job much easier. There’s a place for Chinese medicine in our healthcare system – it fits in where Western medicine may be weak. This might be in areas such as chronic pain, infertility, stroke rehabilitation, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, insomnia and anxiety. If you get hit by a bus, it’s obviously better to go to an emergency room than to an acupuncturist. If you ask your physician what can be done about your arthritis, he or she will recommend anti-inflammatory drugs. But what happens if you decide to STOP taking that drug? The pain returns. What about taking a drug for migraines? Or hypertension?”

In each case, you can lead your patient to the answer: Medications only treat the symptom. This way you’re not TELLING them something; you’re letting them use logic to reach their own conclusions. Americans are programmed to believe there’s a pill for every ill. When they see how we approach health and that they feel much better with treatment of this kind, they make much stronger referrals because they can explain to their friends and family how we differ from allopathic medicine versus making a statement such as “My acupuncturist gave me a few treatments and some funny smelling pills, and I feel much better now.”

Another thing to emphasize is the sheer safety of our medicine in comparison to its younger Western “sibling.” There are over 120,000 deaths per year in this country due to the proper use of medication. The number of deaths from AOM? Zero. That’s why medical malpractice insurance ranges from a low of $60,000 to a high of $160,000 per year for physicians and approximately $900 yearly for our profession. That’s quite an eye-opener.

It’s also important to mention the patient’s role in his or her own path to health. Introduce a hypothetical situation like putting water instead of gas into your gas tank. It probably won’t make your car run very well…The same thing is true about drinking soda or eating fast food. Your body doesn’t react to it beneficially. A GREAT question to ask the patient is: “Instead of thinking about how a particular food tastes, how does this food makes you feel?” Take, for example, a bag of M&Ms. If you eat the entire package, observe how you most likely will feel: nauseous, unable to concentrate, slightly anxious. Then try a Gala brand apple. You’ll find that it’s a life giving food. Your energy level rises, your cognition increases, you feel good. When your patient is able to reach that level of awareness, she doesn’t need to be told what to eat, but she can let her body’s reaction to such foods become the guide. In addition, introducing your patients to self-cultivation methods such as meditation, tai qi and qi gong are also great ways to guide them along their path to wellness.

Some texts compare MDs to mechanics and AOM practitioners to gardeners. The MDs consider the body as a number of “subsystems” such as ignition, exhaust, and transmission. Many urologists view you as a pair of kidneys leading to a bladder that just happens to be attached to a human being. On the other hand, Chinese doctors look at the patient as a garden and evaluate the environmental conditions, proper sunlight, and soil nutrition.

Scientists are slowly recognizing that the body’s inner environment or “milieu” is the single most important factor in cancer growth and metastasis. Sugar compromises the immune system and encourages cancer growth. A tack that mixes respect for allopathic medicine along with respect for holistic logic will help to facilitate your patients’ awareness of the choices they can make to enhance the quality of their lives. Help them see through the lens of an AOM practitioner.