6 Steps to Finding the Best Acupuncturist For You by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc

4. Experience:

Ask them about their experience treating your condition (see above caveat). This will tell you how confident they are. A good practitioner with little experience may still know how to do as much for you as possible, especially if they keep up on the literature! But experience does have value.

5. Cost & Payment:

Find out how much they charge for initial and follow-up visits, if they have payment arrangements, and if they will bill your insurance (if your insurance covers it). Their charge will tell you more about their confidence level, and to some degree this is a measure of competence, although I have heard of bad care given by practitioners who nonetheless charged more than they deserved. Likewise, some very good and confident practitioners may not charge exorbitantly for their own philosophical reasons. The reasonable range is from $80-300 for an initial 2 hour visit, including acupuncture, and from $50-150 for follow up visits.

6. Compare & Decide:

Compare the results of your phone consults, not just in numbers and data, but on your "gut" feeling. It's important to have a good rapport with your practitioner to facilitate essential communication, relaxation, and trust. People are sometimes different on the phone, so I wouldn't make this your determining criteria, but it may help you decide if the other factors are more or less equal.

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BIO:

Acupuncturist, herbalist, and medical professor Brian B. Carter founded the alternative health megasite The Pulse of Oriental Medicine (http://www.PulseMed.org/). He is the author of the book "Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs, and Acupressure" (November, 2004). Brian speaks on radio across the country, and has been quoted and interviewed by Real Simple, Glamour, and ESPN magazines.

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