Puncture by prescription
Acupuncturist points out remedy for aches, pains
By JIM GERSBACH
Of the Emerald
I felt nothing when the needle punctured the
back of my hand. But as it dug deeper a sudden
dull pain shot through my hand.
According to acupuncturist Malvin Finkel
stein of the Eugene Center for Acupuncture and
Acupressure, the needle could relieve con
stipation, headaches, toothaches and help my
digestion, provided I wasn’t already in tip-top
shape.
One of four Eugene acupuncturists, Finkel
stein became interested in non-Western healing
after an acupuncturist successfully treated him
for back pain.
Finkeistein and his wife came to Eugene two
years ago because they heard that people here
would be receptive to acupuncture.
“A lot of Eugeneans are real open to new
ways of doing things,” he says.
Acupuncture, however, isn't really new,
Finkeistein points out. It has been practiced in
China for at least 3,000 years. Needles originally
were made of stone, jade or bamboo.
The Chinese say acupuncture unblocks chi,
the life energy they believe courses through
everyone’s body.
Headaches, digestive problems and a host
of other chronic ailments occur when germs or
other external substances block the body’s flow
of chi, Finkeistein says.
Acupuncture restores the flow of chi when
needles are inserted at specific points where chi
is believed to flow close to the surface.
Depending on the ailment, two to 16 stain
less steel needles are inserted at specific points
on the patient’s body. The needles are stuck
from one-quarter to one-half inch under the skin
and left in place from five to 20 minutes while the
patient lies immobile.
Finkelstein estimates that 98 percent of his
patients feel very little pain when the needles go
in.
"It feels like a mosquito bite.”
But if a client prefers not to have needles
inserted, Finkelstein can press the acupuncture
points by hand.
Besides needles and acupressure, Finkel
stein uses moxibustion to restart the flow of chi
and relieve pain. Long practiced by native
healers in Asia, moxibustion involves burning
the herb mugwort over acupuncture points.
Ground, sifted arid aged, the mugwort looks
and feels like shredded foam rubber. Finkelstein
rolls the herb into small cones, places them on
the acupuncture point and lights the cones with
a stick of incense. The mugwort smoulders,
heating the skin and supposedly stimulating the
flow of chi.
Most people begin to feel better almost
immediately, although severe or chronic pain
may begin to subside a few days after a session,
Finkelstein says.
He estimates about three-quarters of his
patients experience some relief. Acupuncture
acts as an analgesic, dulling or easing pain
rather than blocking it out altogether, Finkel
stein explains.
But patients who believe in acupuncture s
effectiveness often get over pain more quickly
than skeptical patients, he admits.
Under current state law, Oregonians must
be referred by a doctor before visiting an
acupuncturist. But that may change.
One acupuncture bill before the Legislature
would change the referral law, and a second bill
would require insurance companies to pay for
the services of licensed acupuncturists. They
currently are required to pay only for treatments
received from physicians.
Photo by Steve Dykes
Chinese chart details the ear’s acupuncture points.
Angry vets charge media with distortion
As the return of the American
hostages filled TV screens, an
other special group of Amer
icans experienced feelings dif
ferent from the joy transmitted
through the media.
Vietnam war veterans around
the country have expressed
anger and resentment at the
contrast between the greeting
given the former hostages and
that given the veterans.
While many veterans are
angry because they “never
received comparable treat
ment,” there also are many who
feel that the government is hin
dering efforts to return the hos
tages to normal lives, says
University veteran Dave Isen
berg.
“They'll have three months
and then they’ll be dropped until
the books and movies come
out," Isenberg says.
“The government puts people
on a cycle where they continue
thinking of themselves as hos
tages.”
Fellow veteran Ron Phillips
says the press is attempting to
create new myths out of both
the hostages and Vietnam Vet
erans.
“They want, for some reason,
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to bring back the myth of the
white knight,” he says.
Phillips believes media man
ipulation was responsible for
the election of Ronald Reagan.
Now is he is afraid the media
may attempt to change the
image of the Vietnam war to
prepare the American public for
a resurgence of militarism.
"They’re going to remold the
image of the Vietnam veteran
into a hero. That scares me,” he
says. "They want to get these
young boys to die in El Sal
vador.”
For the past few years, the
media have burdened the Viet
nam vet with a “junkie image,”
but that will change as it won’t
be of any use in encouraging a
new generation to go off to war,
he says.
“People go to war because
they want to be heroes," Phillips
says.
He says that after the Amer
ican policy of "search and des
troy" in Vietnam, it is “insane"
to say the hostages were bru
talized.
"They should go to state
hospitals. That’s 100 times as
brutal,” Phillips says.
The former Marine exper
ienced three years of treatment
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for delayed stress following his
return from Vietnam.
Isenberg describes some of
the reaction to the returned
hostages as “selective
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derived from feelings of frustra
tion and guilt over Vietnam, he
suggests.
“It’s an effort to assuage guilt
over what they should have
done and didn't do,” he says.
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