We often hear about acupuncture being used as an “alternative” when conventional biomedicine has failed to bring relief or resolution to a problem. So it seems a bit counter-intuitive to think about acupuncture being used as part of first line care in an emergency room.
And that is exactly where this episode’s guest practices— in the ER of a hospital.
Listen in for how he works as an integrated member of an emergency room team, and how acupuncture is helpful to patients transiting through an emergent situation.
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Show Highlights:
4:32 The place of acupuncture in the ER.
9:44 What patients have to say about being treated for anxiety in the ER.
14:05 No school teaches emergency room acupuncture in the US, how did you take your book learning and adapt it to use in the ER?
18:27 How the other ER staffs views having an acupuncturist as part of the team.
24:39 Lessons learned from working in this fast paced and chaotic environment.
32:45 Even in the ER, acupuncture is more than just sticking needles into people.
36:55 Approaching the patient encounter without expectations.
46:10 Acupuncture in a 3rd world hospital.
Adam Reinstein is currently a research acupuncturist working in the Emergency Department at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Adam studied acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine in Austin, TX. Since then he has worked in a variety of settings including community clinics, nursing homes, home health care, and a hospital. Adam also traveled twice with Project Medishare to Port au-Prince, Haiti, where he provided hundreds of acupuncture treatments to patients and staff at the country’s only trauma hospital.
Whether as an acupuncturist, photographer, or hot air balloon pilot, Adam has always enjoyed exploring the relationship between man and nature.
Contact Adam by email
Links and Resources
TV news piece on Acupuncture in the Emergency Room and the Opioid Epidemic
Newspaper story on Acupuncture in the Emergency Room
Adam’s research article published this year in the journal Pain Medicine
Article in the journal Explore about a particular treatment of Adam’s in the Emergency Room
