History of Acupuncture in Texas From John Amaro, D.C.

Below is a part of an e-mail from Dr. John Amaro regarding a part of the history of chiropractic’s part of acupuncture. Dr. Yennie also taught courses for Texas DC’s:

“The first acupuncture educational program I personally ever conducted in Texas was 1978 in Dallas.  Since then I have presented literally scores of Certification series of classes in Texas alone to over 3,000 DC’s in 36 years.  These programs predate acupuncture (L.Ac.) as a profession by more than five full years.
Besides my classes there was also Texas Chiropractic College which goes back into the very early 1980’s as I worked directly with the Post Graduate program (Dr. Ronald Grant) who also sponsored two trips to China a year of which I lead the delegation to Beijing, Shanghai and other locations in the People’s Republic of China.  This was along with a multitude of post graduate programs.  Parker college came a bit later in the late 1980’s early 1990’s which also had an acupuncture certification program. I further served on the Post Graduate Faculty of Parker teaching acupuncture.
Bear in mind none of these programs have ever laid domain on what is taught in a typical acupuncture college which is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  The DC profession like the medical profession has always taught a meridian Euro/Asian medical style of acupuncture which minimizes the myth, folklore, shamanism, legend and superstition which surrounds TCM style of acupuncture.
A full 97% of all known acupuncture points have been described through University study and made famous by Ron Melzack MD of the Melzack/Wall Gate Control theory of pain.  This is in addition to the research of Simmons and Travell MD who correlated similar findings and referred to the acupuncture point as Trigger Points (TrP). These acupuncture points (trigger points are well known in medicine and are not the domain of a specialized group.  The same can be said of the spine does not belong to the exclusive domain of the DC.
In essence, Acupuncture as a practice has been within the chiropractic Scope of Practice for over 35 years in Texas.  Its practitioners are trained in the proper protocol and in clean needle methodology and study from the same textbooks which are within the acupuncture college.  They are competent, dedicated and educated practitioners.  Regarding the difference between the acupuncturists who chooses to attend an acupuncture college and the DC who studies through accepted Post Graduate education programs the closest parallel we have in the DC profession is the issue between “Straights” and “Mixers”  The TCM practitioners hold fast to ancient philosophy and the DC utilizes, contemporary, scientific, anatomical and physiological models to guide their practice and thoughts.”
Patrick Thomas, D.C.
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