se alternative medicines are unconventional in Western society, however, they have a proven track record of use longer than any other forms of medicine known to man, “Traditional Chinese medicine claims to be the world’s oldest continually practiced form of medicine. It traces its history back 2,500 years.” (Wineke, 1997: 1G). Some legitimacy has come to acupuncture because thirty-two states license acupuncturists, some states have made health coverage insurance cover certified health practitioners, including acupuncture, and because many individuals swear by its benefits, (Wineke, 1997, 1G). In Milwaukee alone there are 17 acupuncturists listed in the Yellow Pages, and in 1992, the National Institute of Health (NIH) added validity to the practice by opening and Office of Alternative Medicine designed to fund small-scale studies at various universities across the nation.
While some acupuncturists are self-anointed, many of them are not only licensed and certified by their state but also professionally trained. One acupuncturist known as Zhou who operates in Madison learned his profession at the HeiLongJang Medical University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. He studies acupuncture for five years and is licensed to practice by the state. Many times critics or conventional medical practitioners remain suspect of acupuncture because many acupuncturists will combine acupuncture with treatments of Chinese herbs and fungi. Zhou is no exception to this common practice. He uses powders, pills and ointments, and even tea all made from herbs in conjunction with his acupuncture treatments. His treatments are also cost-effective when co
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