ABSTRACT

We connect the terms “difficult” and “poor” together because patients in this group have pain that is difficult take care of, and the results, after using acupuncture on them, often turn out to be poor. They are difficult to take care of because, by the time of their arrival, they already have multiple medical conditions or problems. All these conditions and problems are the consequences of failures due to previous attempts to stop their pain. For example, they may have undergone surgery that failed to manage their pain. They may have taken strong, addictive drugs that were ineffective in stopping their pain, yet it is these drugs that could have their made acupuncture treatments less effective. They may have physically perceived their subjective pain in multiple locations due to the chronic nature of their pain. Their pain may have begun when they were young, so it has been enduring for years. The patients may have passed retirement age, have limited resources, be overmedicated, or suffer other clinical complications. Combining any or all of these conditions and problems together leads us to conclude that these patients are difficult for us to deal with. Unless acupuncture can be incorporated into a more comprehensive medical practice, it is unrealistic to expect a sole practitioner to take care of multiple medical problems alone.