Aimee Raupp always knew she wanted a career where she could help people.

On a daily basis, she does exactly that, treating patients who seek help for everything from anxiety and depression to infertility. Raupp is a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist.
“I love giving people the sense of hope that they can feel better,” Raupp said.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese medical treatment that involves inserting needles into specific points on the body. By adjusting the flow of the body’s energy, acupuncture is used to heal various illnesses and conditions.

The World Health Organization has identified 28 different conditions for which acupuncture is an effective treatment, including allergies, adverse reactions to chemotherapy, headaches, depression, nausea, neck pain and lower back pain.

As acupuncture continues to become more popular in the U.S. and a more widely accepted form of treatment, job opportunities in the field may be growing, too.
Raupp runs two successful practices in New York; one in Manhattan and one in Nyack.

But becoming an acupuncturist takes commitment, Raupp said. Anyone interested in obtaining an acupuncture license must first earn a master’s degree. Most programs take about three to four years to complete.

Some schools that offer acupuncture programs in Manhattan include the Tri-State College of Acupuncture, New York College of Health Professions, the Swedish Institute and the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine.

“I think it’s definitely more intense than what people think,” said Raupp, who holds a Master of Science degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego.

The curriculum covers such areas as the history of Chinese medicine, ethics, the study of herbs, needle technique, pressure points, anatomy, physiology and pharmacology.
Prior to enrolling in the program, Raupp was pursuing a graduate degree in neuroscience and she held a bachelor’s degree in biology. Her background in science helped her in the program, she said.

“You truly have to be committed, because you are learning the whole concept of Chinese medicine and in addition, you’re learning Western medicine, because you need to understand the conditions you are working with,” said Barbara Carver, senior vice president of New York College of Health Professions, which offers degrees in acupuncture and oriental medicine.

Extensive clinical work is also a significant part of acupuncture programs.

“Students have a lot of practical experience by the time they graduate,” Carver said.

At the New York College program, students complete 1,000 hours of supervised acupuncture training at the school’s teaching clinic.

“Students talk with the patients and have a very intimate information exchange,” Carver said. “They learn how to diagnose and how to choose what points to use.”

Admissions requirements vary by program, but most schools require approximately two years of college-level education. New York College of Health Professions, which has three locations in Manhattan, requires 60 college credits, but does not require applicants to have a degree.

“We look at how well they did in science,” Carver said. “If they didn’t do well, they’re probably going to struggle with some of the courses. We also look to see if the students have an interest in helping people.”

Carver said she believes the field is growing. She said the program at New York College of Health Professions has seen an increase in enrollment in recent years.

After completing a master’s program, students must complete examinations through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. In New York, acupuncturists are also required to take the Clean Needle Technique course. Once a person has fulfilled all education and exam requirements, they can apply for licensure through the New York State Education Department.

Many acupuncturists decide to open their own practice, but some go on get a job within an existing practice. Hospitals and spas are also hiring acupuncturists now, Carver said. Acupuncturists also often work in practices alongside chiropractors and massage therapists.

Raupp said she always knew she wanted to open her own practice. She said she rented space, and her dad bought furniture for the office. She started off slowly, but she says through hard work and word of mouth, business picked up.

“I always had the entrepreneur thing in me,” she said. “If you know how to build a business, you can have a successful practice.”

By Kate Moser Miller

It’s a story all too familiar to young couples today: Two people who have lived a relatively healthy lifestyle decide to have a baby, but after months of trying, they’re still unable to conceive. Whatever the reason, more than 3 million couples suffer from infertility, according to the American Pregnancy Association. These couples often undergo assistive reproduction techniques like in vitro fertilization (IVF), but more and more are turning to holistic alternatives or, more specifically, to acupuncture.

Acupuncture, which operates by the idea that energy flows through channels in the body, can help treat sexual health ailments like infertility and impotence.

Liz Carlson, acupuncturist and owner of Clarity Point Health Care, said she’s often faced with the misconception that there needs to be a “belief” in acupuncture for it to work. “There is a biochemical effect involved,” she explained. “You don’t need to believe in it or know the details of what’s going on in order for it to work.”

Carlson practices Chinese medicine with a focus on women’s health and fertility and says treating a woman’s reproductive health issue is a complex process. “Because this is holistic medicine, we really run the gamut of looking at every organ system,” she said. “We ask about digestion, sleep, her relationship with her partner, how much they have sex, lifestyle and diet. Primarily, though, it’s looking at their gynecological systems.”

Diagnosing and treating sexual issues in men is approached in a similar fashion. According to Carlson, “There’s just so much less to talk about [with men] because their reproductive systems are less complex than women’s. But because of that, there’s a lot less that can go wrong.” She said she works with male clients who suffer from a range of sexual issues, from fertility problems to impotence.

Carlson said that her number of male clients has increased—often at the urging of their wives. “Over time, I have seen more men come to me, and I think higher numbers of men are starting to use alternative medicine,” she said.

Acupuncturist Arya Nielsen, who works at the Continuum Center for Health and Healing, said the number of male clients—which she said makes up about 40 percent of her clients—hasn’t increased in her 34 years in acupuncture, but that their reasons for seeking Chinese medical help have changed. “Often, there’s the idea that acupuncture only treats pain, so I see men who come first seeking relief from pain. Then, when they learn that it can help treat dysfunctions like impotence, they seek treatment for that issue too.”

Carlson said alternative and Western medicine practices can be used together to complement one another. “I use Western diagnoses, even though Chinese medicine technically doesn’t incorporate them,” she said. “But it really helps to know a client’s health issues, like whether he has a low sperm count, for example. I think that’s what our world is moving toward: the integration of all kinds of medicine.”

The Continuum Center is a practice that aims for such integration. Nielsen doesn’t use stereotypical Western medical techniques, but said she is always conscious of patients’ Western medical care. “When you’re working in the Western context, you have to be cognizant of what that person’s medical history is, like what medicines he or she has been prescribed.”

Acupuncture’s greatest benefit may be its perceived absence of negative side effects. Western medicine often heals by using prescription medication, which can leave patients with side effects ranging from the relatively mild (think nausea or drowsiness) to the blatantly dangerous—such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, a side effect sometimes caused by IVF). There is no significant downside, however, with acupuncture. “Occasionally there may be some slight bruising, but the bruises are more superficial than painful,” Carlson said.

The low risks associated with Chinese medicine make it a pretty safe bet for those suffering from a sexual health issue. But Carlson notes that it’s important for clients to realize the underlying cause of their problems. “The thing about infertility is that often, it’s a symptom of a problem, it isn’t the problem itself.”

Shane knows things.

The man has two doctorates: one in divinity and the other in the ancient Asian practice of acupuncture. This gives you a hint of how tender a healer he is.

Let’s back up a little; acupuncture’s not just about temporary relief from pain. It opens channels in the body and heals and energizes us. The practitioner is critical. I’ve known many people (including the vain Chinese head of a Manhattan hospital department) whose needles did little for me. The second best person who worked on me was a Japanese man, not licensed, who vanished to Kyoto to tend to his sick father. I was astonished when three of my friends revealed they were also losing sleep over his disappearance.

Four people who don’t know each other recommended Shane Hoffman to me. One woman, a jock, said if she has a spare dime, she books an extra session.

Shane knows things.

The other day I asked him if the proposed healthcare plan was really going to cut into Medicare services. He made a don’t-be-silly noise. Shane added that it’s the government’s job to take care of people, but that our founding fathers feared that the justice they wrote into the Constitution might not last beyond the 200 years it would take human depravity to circumvent it.

It’s about wizardry. It’s also about Shane’s contagious good spirits. When I confided my addiction to sushi, he imitated a policeman, “Step aw-aay from the sushi.”

If I tell Shane I’m having trouble sleeping, he inserts painless needles that clear my jabbering thoughts. If I walk uphill until my back aches, presto change-o, Shane makes me feel light as a feather again. After a taxi accident, he helped me recover to brisk walking and running for buses.

Once I said I felt angry. Presto change-o, a half-hour later I was smiling. When I told him I sometimes suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, he advised me to take acidophilus during a meal, not at the end, and recommended a product that soothes the stomach like a wizard’s wand passed over me. When a friend told me she reversed bone loss with a calcium product similar to our bones, Shane said the product had reversed osteoporosis for more than one woman he knows. When I smelled what seemed to be marijuana in his office, it turned out to be mugwort, and it was being used as part of a treatment to turn an unborn baby to avoid a breech birth.

Shane recommends a magically pure toothpaste from Belgium. For those of us who have been religiously eating fish only to read recently that every fish sampled from United States waterways had mercury, Shane has a holistic plan that helps our bodies flush mercury.

In his office, he sells DVDs of forest sounds and waterfalls.

Shane comes from a blended Quaker upper-class Philadelphia family (although he modestly says he’s not upper class). His gentility of spirit reminds me of other altruistic Quaker people I encountered growing up in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

While some New Yorkers thrill to dog-eat-dog lives, others devote themselves to helping. What a joy to find Shane Hoffman. I gotta tell you, it’s been one helluva treasure hunt.

–
Susan Braudy is the author and journalist whose last book, Family Circle: The Boudins and the Aristocracy of the Left, was nominated for a Pulitzer by publisher Alfred Knopf.

A breakthrough study published in the Fertility and Sterility journal in 2002 revealed that the combination of IVF and acupuncture could increase fertility chances. German researchers found that the pregnancy rate for IVF treatments nearly doubled when combined with acupuncture therapy. In basic terminology, in-vitro fertilization involves the extraction of the eggs from the ovaries, where they are fertilized in a Petri dish. If the eggs fertilize from the sperm, the embryo is then implanted in the uterus. Specifically, acupuncture performed before and after embryonic transfer had the highest chance of success.

The theory behind the studies has to do with how acupuncture affects circulation. The insertion of tiny needles into the skin helps to increase the delivery of blood to the ovaries and uterine lining. By improving circulation, acupuncture can make the uterus a more hospitable environment for an egg to survive. It can also help men improve the quality of their sperm, making the chance of reproducing more likely. Stress can also be a factor that hinders fertility, and by putting pressure on certain points, endorphins are released in the brain to cause relaxation. Generally, the process takes three to four months of twice-weekly sessions before there is a verdict on whether the couple has the ability to get pregnant.

The Berkley Center for Reproductive Wellness, located on East 40th Street, is in the business of treating infertility with acupuncture, conveniently located next to an IVF practice. The office is decorated like a chic sushi restaurant, complete with low lighting, burning incense and orchids and lilies placed throughout. It is a calm environment in Midtown where men and women come seeking a dose of Eastern medicine to help boost their fertility.

“The truth is that patients who are 25 years old and 40 years old probably have a 25 to 30 percent increase [in pregnancy rates] when combining acupuncture and herbs with IVF,” Dr. Mike Berkley said.

The results of the study have been met with some criticism within the reproductive medical community. In 2006, Dr. Alice Domar, an expert on women’s health, questioned the statistical significance of the study. After conducting her own study, she found that the pregnancy rate of IVF patients does increase with acupuncture, but not to a degree that is considered statistically significant. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine cites her research as evidence that acupuncture may not necessarily have a causal effect on pregnancy among IVF patients.

“The jury is still out,” Dr. Domar said. “Personally, I am a believer in acupuncture. I continue to recommend it because it’s very low risk and high return. It can’t hurt, and it has potential to help.”

Interestingly enough, acupuncture has been proven to be a successful method to turn breached babies around inside the womb, according to the World Health Organization. By placing a needle into the pinkie toe of the mother or using moxibustion, burning mugwort herb, the baby can flip positions, therefore decreasing the chances of a dangerous delivery or necessary C-section.

“Moxibustion is an herb that is contained, that looks like a cigar. You hold on to the lateral aspect of the small toe, but you don’t actually touch the toe because you’ll burn the toe,” Dr. Berkley said. “I’ve treated about six cases and turned about three fetuses.”

Along with the heartwarming stories of seemingly miraculous pregnancies comes the reality of failure to conceive for the majority of couples with fertility problems. The infertility treatment industry must tread carefully with its patients, as many have emotional scars from endless years of disappointments and frustration. During one consultation, a 37-year-old patient endured more than an hour of discomforting personal questions as she expressed confusion and dismay with her inability to procreate, despite the fact that she had previously given birth to a son. She continuously scratched her arms and wiggled her pink flip-flops as Dr. Berkley discussed the woman’s options and told her point-blank that there was a chance that she would never get pregnant again.

Despite the fact that the science connecting acupuncture and fertility is still in its infancy, acupuncturists find reasons to believe in its power.

“My wife and I had difficulty conceiving,” Dr. Berkley said. “She had acupuncture and herbs. Now, we have a son.”