Tour de France cyclist Tyler Hamilton does it. Gwyneth Paltrow does it. Even Penn does it.
Acupuncture -- one of the most prominent forms of alternative medicine in the United States -- has been at Penn since 1980, when it was established by Korean physician Sae-il Chun as part of the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Though an informal survey revealed that most students are unaware of the clinic, some students, upon receiving information about the practice, expressed interest in acupuncture at Penn.
"I think I could possibly do it at some point in time. I would prefer not to look [only at traditional] medicine off the bat, because sometimes that's really bad for you, too -- you don't know what you're getting, anyway," College freshman Shelby Prindaville said.
The clinic, now based out of both Presbyterian Hospital, where most patients are seen, and HUP, where the majority of acupuncture research is conducted, includes five doctors.
Acupuncture, a Chinese medicinal technique that is over 5,000 years old, involves the insertion of fine needles into specific body areas for the purpose of relieving pain or producing anesthesia.
According to the clinic's patient care and educational program director, Patrick LaRiccia,the high cost of gathering and analyzing data makes it difficult to convince people that acupuncture is a viable means of treatment.
"I haven't heard much of a sound basis for it being an effective medicine," said Wharton junior Andrew Milanez, who, like Prindaville, was unaware of the clinic's existence.
In addition to skepticism, the cost of the acupuncture also deters people from receiving treatment.
"Not many students come [because] insurance doesn't cover it," said LaRiccia, who charges $120 for the initial consultation and $65 for each follow-up.
Each visit usually lasts 45 minutes, and most treatment plans require eight visits.
LaRiccia said that Penn researchers are currently conducting research on the potential for acupuncture to aid osteoarthritis, in addition to studying the changes in brain function as a result of acupuncture.
We do a "brain scan before acupuncture, and then we do a brain scan after acupuncture and look to see how brain action has changed," LaRiccia said.
This "give[s] us information about what happens in regards to brain circulation. The blood circulation in the brain changes based on whether or not they've had acupuncture," he added.
LaRiccia said that he hopes to see the acupuncture practice grow "into a large clinic where people can come in, and we can go ahead and give acupuncture and [also collect] statistics [about] how effective it is."
LaRiccia, who did his residency in internal medicine, said that he decided to focus on acupuncture because "it was so satisfying and so safe -- it's become my main activity. I certainly didn't plan it that way."
Though "it doesn't help everyone, what you see is so gratifying. S You can treat things like asthma, irritable bowel syndrome [and] allergies," he added.
Meryl Stein, who joined Penn's acupuncture practice a year ago after studying acupuncture at Harvard University, agrees.
"A lot of pain medications don't work well, [and acupuncture] is another treatment protocol," Stein said.
"Mostly, the people I see come as a last resort. S They're really hoping it will work," LaRiccia said, noting that approximately 60 percent of his patients receive favorable results.
Clinical associate professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine Dell Burkey, who has been practicing acupuncture for a decade, also works at Presbyterian.
"My time is divided between the operating room and the Pain Medicine Center," said Burkey, who noted that he treats approximately 15 patients a week with acupuncture.
Burkey noted that, due to the prevalence of this form of alternative medicine today, more and more doctors are seeking to be trained in the practice.
"You cannot in this day of age be a pain practitioner and not have acupuncture," Burkey said.
"It takes a number of years of practice to know how to apply it to specific points," Burkey said.
He noted that approximately 70 percent of his patients benefit from having acupuncture, and relatively few experience any side effects.
Burkey will soon begin research on the relationship between interstitial cystitis, a condition whereby the bladder becomes chronically inflamed, and the role acupuncture plays in treating the disease.
As research findings pointing to the benefits of acupuncture grow, more people are predicted to start using the treatment in place of more conventional medicine.
Acupuncture is "just as logical as a lot of things we take for granted in medicine," Prindaville said.
As for acupuncture's place at Penn, LaRiccia said, "I think there will be more and more activity with acupuncture on campus. S I think it will continue to grow."
