Acupuncture Today is the only national publication serving licensed acupuncturists and doctors of traditional medicine. It is the most complete resource for news and product information in this profession for 20+ years. AT reaches 30,000+ doctors and students of acupuncture and traditional medicine through our print and online editions each month.
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, has surged into mainstream clinical awareness, especially following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and post-viral complications. Characterized as a subtype of dysautonomia, POTS involves a persistent, measurable failure of the autonomic nervous system to regulate cardiovascular responses upon standing. Patients endure debilitating symptoms, including lightheadedness, orthostatic intolerance, fatigue, brain fog, palpitations, and gastrointestinal dysmotility. Tragically, these individuals are often dismissed with anxiety or psychosomatic labels. This episode uncovers the crucial clinical distinction between situational autonomic dysregulation and true dysautonomia. We also explore how POTS frequently overlaps with autoimmune diseases and hypermobility spectrum disorders like Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, where poor connective-tissue integrity promotes venous pooling and compromises cerebral perfusion. For East Asian medicine practitioners, recognizing objective biomedical criteria—such as a sustained heart rate spike of thirty beats per minute—is essential. Because POTS presents with fluctuating, mixed deficiency and excess patterns, rigid, one-size-fits-all treatments routinely fail. By mastering the underlying mechanisms behind autonomic instability, acupuncturists can validate patient suffering and craft nuanced, mechanism-based herbal strategies. Tune in to discover how to transform complex post-viral presentations into precise Chinese medicine differential diagnoses that restore physiological equilibrium, calm the nervous system, and foster lasting patient recovery across challenging clinical scenarios today.
1 Oct 2026
The Real Barrier to Hospital-Based Acupuncture Isn’t Funding
Within the integrative health field, a widespread assumption persists that the primary impediment to establishing hospital-based acupuncture programs is a chronic lack of institutional funding. However, qualitative research and hospital program development conducted by Dr. Shabnam Pourhassani paint a radically different picture. Through semi-structured interviews with leadership across surgical, medical, and bioethics departments at a major academic medical center, Pourhassani discovered that funding was not the limiting factor. Instead, the true primary barrier is a profound knowledge gap among physicians and hospital executives regarding acupuncture's evidence base, safety, and clinical applications. Because conventional medical training excludes acupuncture curricula, hospital leaders simply do not understand how integrative modalities fit into inpatient workflows. Consequently, generating clinical research or expanding insurance reimbursement is insufficient without dedicated physician education and change management. Furthermore, the study demonstrated that when programs articulate clear clinical value and strategic alignment, financial resources can be secured, allowing acupuncturists to negotiate fair compensation above traditional donor-subsidized rates. To successfully embed acupuncture into evidence-based hospital systems, our profession must pivot toward operational leadership, implementation research, and interprofessional advocacy to close the educational divide permanently, empowering acupuncturists to lead institutional programs and secure rightful recognition throughout modern inpatient medical centers nationwide today.
1 Oct 2026
Facial Acupuncture Therapies: Matching the Therapy to the Tissue
When patients seek facial rejuvenation, practitioners often wonder which modality delivers superior results: cosmetic acupuncture, microneedling, LED light therapy, facial cupping, or gua sha. Expert practitioner Michelle Gellis asserts that the key to lasting aesthetic success lies in asking a better question: Which anatomical tissue layer are we trying to influence? Wrinkles are symptoms rather than diagnoses, originating from complex multi-layered changes across skin, hypertonic or atrophied musculature, restricted fascia, sluggish lymphatic circulation, and bone remodeling. Furthermore, habitual emotional expressions leave enduring neuromuscular patterns etched upon the face. Gellis outlines how different clinical tools specifically address different structural targets. Motor-point acupuncture directly resets neuromuscular recruitment, lifting ptosis, correcting facial asymmetry, and resolving hypertonic contractions seen in aging and conditions like Bell’s palsy. When epidermal texture, fine lines, or acne scarring dominate, microneedling stimulates fibroblast mechanotransduction and dermal collagen remodeling. Photobiomodulation with LED therapy revitalizes cellular mitochondrial ATP and mitigates inflammation, while facial cupping and gua sha liberate fascial adhesions and drain interstitial fluid. By layering these synergistic therapies to match the underlying tissue pathology, clinicians deliver remarkably natural, transformative, and lasting facial rejuvenation outcomes that honor both modern anatomical physiology and time-tested holistic traditional Chinese medicine diagnostic principles everywhere today.
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