Chinese Medicine Book Club Issue 2492
Daily updates to accompany the growth of TCM practitioners
Introduction: Treating diseases according to textbooks without effect is a matter worth pondering. As student Bu said, perhaps we just need a teacher to guide us to break through that barrier, allowing us to discover the usefulness of the textbooks. (Editor: Fu Shen)
The Effectiveness of Acupuncture: Breaking Through the Barrier
Author: Bu Chuanli
Building Confidence in Young Physicians
Young TCM practitioners often face the challenges of having fewer patients and establishing their reputation. How to quickly improve efficacy and build confidence for both patients and physicians is key to progress. My confidence in TCM primarily comes from my teacher. Seeing numerous successful cases in my teacher’s clinic, I was able to replicate those results. This confidence gradually solidified through long-term clinical experience. After studying the Guo’s acupuncture online course, I immediately began applying it, achieving short-term results in a small scope, which strengthened my confidence in acupuncture. However, extensive long-term validation is still needed for my confidence in clinical acupuncture to grow.
Specialized Skills are Important for Young Physicians
In our studies, we often learn that one acupuncture point can treat many diseases. However, how to select and combine points for a specific disease is often not taught, or lacks precise explanation. The key to the effectiveness of acupuncture lies in the technique and thought process. The points listed in textbooks did not yield real results in my hands, and the reason lies here. It is like a layer of window paper that can be easily broken through. Meeting a teacher who can guide us to breakthrough is a matter of chance. Teacher Guo has provided excellent examples and guidance in selecting points for diseases, allowing me to reduce the number of needles while increasing their effectiveness. In the gynecology specialty, I currently apply acupuncture most frequently for conditions like mastopathy and weight loss.
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One patient lost twenty pounds after seven acupuncture sessions while cooperating with diet and exercise.
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Several other patients generally lose about one pound per session.
For treating mastopathy, Teacher Guo has cases where a single session can make the condition disappear or soften nodules. Even in the most severe case of late-stage breast cancer, the patient recovered. The results of his treatment cases excite me.
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I treated a patient with breast pain who was in severe discomfort and could not be touched. After the session, she returned home pain-free. Her confidence increased, and she actively returned for follow-up. She said if she got better, she would bring many similar patients to me for treatment.
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I have also treated several patients with breast nodules who did not experience pain, so they could not perceive any improvement in their condition. I plan to have them undergo a B ultrasound after completing a treatment course to compare with previous examinations to evaluate efficacy.
I have never defined my specialty: “I treat internal injuries and miscellaneous diseases, including internal and external conditions, as well as gynecology and pediatrics.” However, after studying Guo’s acupuncture course, I realized that simply treating obesity and breast nodules effectively helps patients solve some problems. Once patients establish trust, I can begin treating other conditions, which actually increases my patient volume. I feel that mastering a specialized skill is very important for a young doctor.
Our Dedication Will Yield Results
Teacher Guo said: “Acupuncture is easy to learn; as long as you build a solid foundation and study and practice diligently, there is nothing you cannot learn.” Previously, I primarily treated patients with herbal prescriptions, and I had confidence in prescription treatments due to the solid foundation I built earlier. Now, my method of learning acupuncture is through studying with a super-achiever friend. The method seems simple but actually combines the wisdom of countless people and is very effective. In fact, mastering other knowledge can also adopt this method. She also emphasized that the most effective learning involves sharing. Teaching is the best way to learn. I take various notes and frequently share them in our class group, which helps me grasp the knowledge points after each course.1. Watch videos. Sometimes I speed through a video. More often, I take notes on paper while watching, writing down key information. In places where I need to record a lot of notes, I pause the video to write.2. Create notes. I use a simplified version of a mind map to organize my notes.3. Create mind maps. I use XMind to create vertical mind maps (which are clearer and suitable for mobile viewing).4. Repeated learning. I use Anki to repeatedly review my mind maps, which allows me to import images and edit knowledge points based on memory curves.
Gynecology Case Sharing↓↓
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For the condition of dysmenorrhea, our online course students have achieved many surprising results in clinical practice, and we will share everyone’s clinical effects, thoughts, and insights. For example, some students found their weight loss techniques were not effective, but after seeing others succeed, they began to seek reasons, ask teachers, and practice diligently, and we have all progressed little by little.
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Recommended Courses
Linglan and Guo’s acupuncture team systematically organized the entire academic system of Guo’s acupuncture, deeply exploring the clinical experience accumulated over a century. The 2020 course “Miao Points for Specific Diseases” focuses on common diseases in gynecology, pain syndromes, and hemiplegia, discussing the treatment ideas and acupuncture techniques passed down through three generations of Guo’s acupuncture, achieving a century of accomplishments. This course can help you revitalize TCM knowledge, quickly improve acupuncture clinical skills, and ignite your love for acupuncture.
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Master the Basics: The course includes a dedicated notebook with classic quotes from Teacher Guo and essential basic skill practices; the course page has a learning guide to provide direction even for beginners.
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Summarize and Remember: Each course episode has corresponding knowledge point reviews, and there are Guo’s acupuncture mnemonic verses to help you remember and apply, truly achieving “Needles in hand, verses on lips”.
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Online Teacher-Student Interaction: The main instructor holds a live Q&A session once a month, along with sharing frontline clinical materials.
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Join Us for Mutual Progress: Participate in the Guo’s Acupuncture Alumni Association, discuss and exchange in the student group, and accumulate small progress through basic skill check-ins.
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↓↓ Read the original text to see more student feedback.