Acupuncture Books

It's a brilliant book, very simple and easy to use technique (it actually works), which wipes the whole psychiatric establishment of the table! Do not bother going to university and study CBT, get involved in this!

Easy reading and detailed instructions. Written for emotional distress, but I use it for physical pain and it works. I first read it from the local library and followed the instructions and was surprised it alleviated the physical pain. I suffer from fibromyalgia and sometimes even Tylenol doesn't work. One treatment does not necessarily work for life but takes little time to repeat. Great book for those seeking answers in alternative medicine.

My job requires me to speak in front of large groups of people at one time and I would get so sick to my stomach that I knew I'd either have to do something about it or get a different job. I ordered this book and what a difference it made in my life. It's easy to follow, no tricks involved and it really took the edge off and I was able to talk more comfortably in front of people. I also travel for work and flying always makes me extremely nervous but when you learn how to tap, you can learn how to calm yourself down and keep your fears at bay. It basically works like this. Prior to tapping you need to be in a state of feeling whatever fear, anxiety, etc that has control over you when it's happening. You can visualize this state of emotion or the best way is if it's actually happening so you truly are in that real state of emotion. You grade that feeling on a scale of 1-10, the higher the number the greater the feeling the lesser the number the lesser the feeling. Than you use the tapping techinque's (there are a variety of tapping techinque's depending on what your issue is) and than ask yourself again after you perform the tapping on a scale of 1-10 how you feel about the issue. This is where you will see the number decrease. I performed this on my boyfriend who faints at the sight of blood and he went from 10 to 6 and than down to 3. Amazing.

Whether this works as the author claims, or whether it's one of those "we don't know why it works, it just does" (imho the more likely explanation) sort of things, it doesn't hurt to try the program, and you are only out the price of the book.

That said, this book is very repetitive (it is about 50 pages too long) and plodding. It should have come with a CD of the instructions for each tapping sequence, which would make it much easier to use.

The must-have book for healers and therapists. Forget Brief Therapy...this one gets results using cutting-edge concepts that escape many practitioners stuck in the Old Paradigm medical model. Roger Callahan's TFT approach offers genuine relief of symptoms and old issues which cause distress in a simple, but NOT simplistic manner. It is a miracle, and this book is a user-friendly manual that anyone can use effectively. As a former marriage counselor and family therapist, I appreciate jargon-free solutions that really help! Anyone with any kind of pain can benefit from using the methods offered here. A self-help book that really helps!

This was a gift and was exactly what the person wanted. It arrived promptly and well packaged.

Highly recommended by some of my professors, I eventually purchased the book and am very happy I did. There are other books in the market explaining basic TCM concepts including diagnosis and meridians / points, but this one seems to do it just that one last bit more clearly - perhaps the fact that it's written by an English speaker is the reason why!

It's heavy to carry around and some of the terminology is different from what the Chinese Unis teach, but it's definitelly worth having in your library if you are studying TCM.

If this is your first year studying TCM and you have to use this book, then brace yourself. I hope you have a great teacher who can decipher this book with all it's horrible formatting and confusing theory. Read Kaptchuk's first "The Web that has no Weaver" before you start on this one. Kaptchuk's book saved my life, and kept me from failing my basic foundations class. Here is another valuable tidbit...just read the boxes in the text, and the chapter summaries and study hints at the end of every chapter. This will keep you sane as you muddle through the book. If you are a TCM student, you HAVE to get the book. No choice. It's going to be on your board exams. I am hoping that the TCM association can lobby to remove it from the board exams!

The index of this book is inaccurate, starting at page 417 or some point in that previous section. From page 417 to the end of the book the actual page numbers are four less than the ones listed in the index. For example, if you look at the index listing "Transporting (Shu) Points 787-802", the section on Shu points is actually 783-798. Before page 417, the page numbers are accurate.

So if you look something up in the index and it doesn't seem to be on the indicated page, don't despair. Flip two pages back and you'll probably find it.

If you intend to use this text as a reference, beware that the index is 90% incorrect and that although the text is beautiful, it is laid out in a very confusing manner. For instance, the summary box for Lung dryness, instead of being situated in the Lung Dryness section, is laid out under the text for Invasion of Lungs by Wind-Cold. This is the case throughout the book.

It seems the only fish oil you can buy is from him only. This is just one long commericial for his products which are way overpriced. He says that cheaper fish oils don't filter out chemicals, toxins, etc. But I personally looked on the back of rite aid variety fish oil tablets and found them free of mercury, cadmium, and dioxins. And they are 3 to 4 times cheaper than his rip off biased fish oil products.

This is the definitely the best book available on this topic - avoid all others because they aren't any informative than a brochure (I've bought them all).

He presents highly specific information while still not getting too academic.

One caveat: you certainly don't have to get his outrageously expensive fish oil products. I get the Natural Factor's Dr. Murray fish oil from either iherb.com, vitaminlife.com, or www.thdv.com. I also get 1/3 of my daily fish oil from puritan's pride (consumerlab.com says they're free of all toxins)

In general, he gets a little too paranoid about contaminants. Check out consumerlab.com for acceptable products.

Good Luck!

This is a great book for the lay reader. It introduces one to a set of difficult concepts without ever talking down to you but not requiring you to get a degree in biochemistry before reading it. There is a wealth of references to studies done by major universities around the world which is really appreciated. I started using the Zone Dietary protocols in 1995 when his first book was published, Enter the Zone. It worked just as he said it would. Over the last two years I've strayed and gained about 10 lbs of unwanted body fat. Having recently gotten myself reorganized, I've started again and not only has the fat just melted off, but my BP has lowered. I've also started taking the Omega3 and can tell a difference. There are other books on Omega3 but Sears has a way of dealing with the subject that gives one the sense of talking to a family member about the stars: he's right there and present and witty and smart. I only wish I'd known about Omega3 years ago. It, too, works. And what in this day of endless infomercials is more fascinating than to find something that works just as its promoter says it will???
My only criticism of the book is in the editing and proof reading. The publishers should be horse whipped.

My wife always brought home and tried several different "diet" books. I was (and still am) skeptical of most. Then, coincidentally on the same day I came home from the doctor with a Cholesterol reading of 285, she brought home from work (library) a copy of this book. I read it. First one made some sense in terms of balanced eating lifestyle. In retrospect, I see now it is all his old stuff + High grade fish oil. But for a first timer, it was helpful. There are, as I found out later, plenty of info on Fish oil. But the Balanced, lo-grain diet was most helpful, and avaiulable in the other books. And one can get a good quality Fish oil (Dr. Murrays RX Omega from iherb.com) at a real reasonable price.
After being in the ZONE for 4 months and taking Fish Oil, my Total cholesterol dropped to 204! And my weight dropped 25 lbs!

The OmegaRXZone is an excellent source of information on Omega 3 Fish Oil and what it may do to improve your health, both mentally and physically. A tremendous amount of studies on Omega 3 are being done and many more that have been completed. Sear's OmegaRxZone gives you a summary of many of the already completed research projects in simple language that the layman can understand rather than searching through medical articles that usually go way over our heads. The book suggests that large doses of the oil may may improve several major health problems that Americans are suffering with. Taking Omega 3, eating within " Zone " guidelines, a little walking and staying away from partially hydrogenated fats has turned the lives and health of many of my clients around. The book is a sales pitch for Sear's Oil because it is purer than most other company's Omega 3, an important factor as the oceans become more polluted. It is also a pitch for the Zone Nutrition program, which is probably the safest and one of the least restraining weight loss programs out there. As long as the salesman is selling a great product it is worth " the listen. " My only relationship to Sears is that I believe in his program and feel he is doing what he can to get America healthy again. This book is for #1. Nutrition buffs, #2. People who would like to be educated about the good effects that the right combination of foods and Omega 3 can have on your body, #3. Adults with health problems such as Heart Disease, Arthritis, Cancer and Neurological problems.

A very extensive book on meridians and pressure points. The title is not reflective of the content, but a very good book on accupressure points. A good book for your accupressure library but lacks in martial art healing principals.

I highly recommend this book to any Martial Artist. It is easy to read, well organized, and looks phenomenal. This book is invaluable to any student of kysho- or goshin-jutsu.

Tedeschi has done a masterful job of concisely describing a very complex subject in a mere 148 pages. I was looking for a book to map meridian points to western anatomical points and his book fills the bill excellently. As a technical writer, I appreciate the way he lays out an overview before launching into detail. It's always easy to tell where you are in the grand scheme of the book.

The book itself is well put together and I expect to get good service out of it. High quality paper, appropriate page size for the large charts, good use of text columns, side heads, and clear charts. He has a section with the Chinese glyphs; tables have acupoint names in English and romanized Chinese, Korean, & Japanese.

The sections on healing and martial applications are overviews and if that is your interest, this book only points the way. It serves as a firm foundation for those interested in all Asian arts releted to meridians: acupuncture, acupressure, massage, dim mak, etc.

This clear, concise, beautiful book is the best comparison I've found of Eastern and Western medicines. If you're interested in exploring the differences and similarities between Eastern and Western healing traditions, this book is a wonderful place to start. It's clear, elegant, and packed with information. It is an excellent source of information on acupressure points for athletes.

This book is hands down the best reference book I've found for Eastern energetic theory that's not a straight up acupuncture school text. The title has been called misleading...considering that it's called "Essential ANATOMY..." I think it's pretty straightforward. It is an excellent resource for why certain pressure points work and their local Eastern and Western anatomy. It has excellent comparisons between Eastern and Western thought and theory. It is not a book of martial arts techniques. Tedeschi has plenty of those, and this one is a cross-reference, not a direct technical manual. So if you're at all interested in "meta-martial arts", this book is amazing; if you're looking to actively learn new strikes or blocks or anything like that, better go with one of his other books (the "Art of..." series seems to be good, although I don't have any of them myself.)

This is a very good basics resource. Good illustrations that match the content. Excellent descriptions of massage strokes and tips for oilos, setting the mood etc. This is the book that everyone should have on their shelf for massage!

I am very satisfied with my recent order from Amazon.

The Book Of Massage is very educational and helpful!

I found the book to have very good detail. It enabled me to pick up the techniques of massage fairly quickly.

The book is informative with fine pictures giving every aspect of the description. The books gives the idea of the 'healing science', even to the layman for whom, massage is a new subject.

thanks,

Dr.Maulik Vyas

It is great knowledge of massage techniques for learner and trained MTs.
Pictures are very good and the matter has been dealt with expertly.
I enjoyed reading and learning new techniques of massage therapy.
The only thing I found different is nude client on table,which differs from draping rules defined by AMTA/National Board USA (That is draping of client as per applicable laws of MD/DC/VA) .

This book gives many case studies to support the findings of NAET, which I found to be profoundly hopeful. It is also thorough in its discussion of the different organ systems and helps the reader to narrow down the nature of her or his own challenged meridians. I have had my first NAET treatment and it was pleasant and non-invasive. The book helped me to get started.

This book is very enlightening. It make one really think twice about an illness/allergy! It also makes one consider doing something about their health.

I've had IBS for years and was getting very depressed. It interfered with everything I did. Everything I ate seemed to bother me. I've had two treatments and am seeing dramatic improvements already. I can eat without having stomach pains and constipation. I can actually eat dairy again!

My son is now 1 year old and he has also had two treatments and the rash on his face is gone. His excema on his arms and legs is clearing up and his bowel movements are normal now too. I have even noticed that he has been sleeping better.

My husband was very skeptical at first but agreeded to pay for us to go. We both agreed it was worth a try for both my son and me. We go once a week because it is not covered through insurance. It has been worth it. I have seen so many specialists that were unable to help. This is the first time that someone is actually helping us.

The book is interesting and informative but I would suggest going to the NAET website and finding information there and a practitioner in your area with the most up to date education.

The experience has inspired me to return to school to become a D.C. so that I can learn NAET and help others. (NAET practitioners must have a licensed medical degree).

I hope this helps someone out there.

I did not read this book, but after seeing how well my niece was doing on the therapy and researching it from their web-site I too tried it out for six sessions. The certified NAET practitioner I chose to see had several levels of study for credentials, so I felt confident that I was being careful. I went for the therapy to relieve seasonal allergies that plague me during the summer, with the primary symptom being generalized fatigue.

I started the therapy at the end of March and continued every week for the next six weeks. I do not normally have symptoms in March from allergies. I had symptoms after every session which abated after a day or two, but I was not concerned as I was reporting these to the practitioner. Some of the sessions "did not take" and had to be repeated, which is from my understanding a possible occurrence.

After six weeks I stopped because I did not yet see any benefit from the therapy, except for this one which was unexpected: I had been suffering from gastric reflux on a daily basis for the last six months and that completely resolved.

On the negative side, I had the WORST summer I have ever had in my entire life. I am talking about a lying-on-the-couch funk which lasted the entire summer into early fall. No respite, no amount of sleep or vitamins or exercise would shake the heavy feeling of tiredness.

As I had never experienced this level of fatigue before with my allergies, and have tried no other therapies beforehand, I think there is a definite possibly that the NAET therapy either caused or contributed to this situation. After all, if I had had the best summer of my life I would have attributed it to the therapy, surely we can say the same when the opposite happens.

It is now December and I have recovered, though I was so tired that my work suffered (self-employed) and I fell behind on my income production by several thousand dollars. Therefore, think carefully before you try this and ask yourself if you are willing to risk that the therapy will backfire?

Run out and buy this Book as fast as you can
if you have allergies I had N.A.E.T. done in
Australia. Now I can say, It works I've suffered
for years with Food allergies and have been to countless of
Doctors, But untill I had this done..... Now I can eat the
foods that I had to avoid, without any discomfort or pain
Carol Taylor

Snake Oil Science is required reading for everyone who thinks that alternative, i.e., magic, medicine has any benefit for real problems. It covers all the bases of CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) and shows why people think that they work, but, at best, they are no more helpful than a placebo. He surveys the literature on placebos to show how they work and then goes to show that CAM nas the exact same effect. He goes through each major type of CAM, addressing its practice and history, and explains the type of person that finds comfort in them and how that works. This is one of a few books that tries to address the prevailing magical thinking that has overtaken our country (Darwin in the Kitchen is another) and has been one of the factors why the US is on the downward slope.

R. Barker Bausell is a biostatistician who worked for the NIH's Complimentary Medicine Program, which was designed to test the efficacy of Contemporary and Aleternative Medicine (CAM). As a biostatistician, Bausell is the one who designs studies so that they are as fair and unbiased as possible. His big "beef" with CAM? That the less biased the study, the less effective CAM seems to be.

This book has several strenghts and several weaknesses. I will go into the strengths first.

STENGTHS:
First, while the book suggests that it is primarily about 'debunking' alternative medicines, the bulk of the book is spent talking about how effective studies are designed and different things that can undermine the validity of studies (small sample sizes, shoddy control/placebo treatments, attrition). In short, this book offers a VERY good explanation of how science works. (Only after explaining how good studies are designed does our author go on to suggest that most CAM studies are quite poorly designed.)

This book spends a lot of time talking about the 'placebo effect,' a large player in CAM research. The placebo effect is a (generally) psychological effect where the person experiences betterment SOLELY from having any kind of treatment at all (even a sugar pill). Our author's point with explaining the placebo effect is to suggest that well-designed CAM studies point to one conclusion: that most CAM treatments are only as effective as any other placebo (incorrectly performed accupuncture is as effective as 'legitimate' acupuncture, not because accupuncture works, but because the subject wants or expects it to work).

The author is very far from biased. Despite its outragous title, Snake Oil Science is not a 'gotcha' book written by a mean-spirited and fun-poking author. The discourse is very professional and fair. The author never 'slams' CAM, but only suggests that CAM has ALOT of work to do in order to prove itself, assuming that it can.

WEAKNESSES:
For those wanting a comprehensive discussion 'debunking' CAM treatments and remedies, this book - again, despite its title - will not be satisfying. The author, a biostatistician, spends so much time talking about how to design a good study, how to spot a bad one, and adding caveat after caveat, that only one (and a half) chapters really discuss what the research actually saya. Really, the book should have been subtitled, "A primer on the methodology of clinical studies."

For those who want a somewhat friendly and relatively non-academic read, this book probably is not it. The author certainly tries to bring it down to non-specialist language, but when talking about statistics, controls, variables, and confounds, technical jargon and dry verbiage ls unavoidable. While this book is certialy informative about how clinical trials are designed, the placebo effect, and explaining why most CAM studies are poorly and hastily done, it is a somewhat dry read.


So, there you have it. If you want to become more familiar with how the medical profession tests their treatments (and compare it to how CAM proponents 'test' their treatments) this is a very good and exciting book. If you are looking for a good old-fashioned Shermer and Randi style 'debunking' of CAM, there are several other books you are better to read than this one. (Try "Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts About Alternative Medicine.")

Excellent book that not only gives a clear view of how the placebo effect works but also goes into great detail on how to do proper tests as well as how certain things like false positives might come about.

I am a practicing physician in Singapore and at one time, on staff teaching hematology in University College Hospital Medical School, London University and then Hong Kong University. Many years ago, while sitting on the Singapore National Medical Research Council, there was one grant applicatioin that asked for money to do a piece of research on "Acupuncture for the relief of osteoarthritic knee pain." There was no sham acupuncture control group mentioned. When I said in order to make the trial valid, there must be a control group. The answer came back, "We know no matter where we stick the needle, the pain will improve." That started me on my quest for more knowledge regarding acupuncture and other forms of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).

This book by R. Barker Bausell is the best one I have ever read. Bausell is a biostatistician, a Professor at the University of Maryland and at one time Research Director of an NIH funded CAM Specialized Research Center. The structure of the book could roughly be outlined as an attempt to finding answers to the following questions:
1. Is there such a thing as a therapeutic placebo effect?
2. Is there a plausible biochemical analgesic mechanism of action that could explain such an effect?
3. Is there such a thing as a CAM therapeutic effect over and above what can be attributed to the placebo effect (assuming that there is such a thing as the latter)?
4. Are there plausible biochemical mechanisms of action that could explain these CAM therapeutic effects (assuming there are such things)?

In the process of answering those questions, he explained in very clear terms the necessity for Randomized Control Trials (RCT), and preferably Double blinded RCT, where neither the physician nor the patient knew whether the patient was receiving the treatment or just a placebo, was necessary. As an aside, his book could be an introductory treatise on running RCTs for the rookie clinical research working planning his/her first clinical trial. Towards the end of the book, having laid out the criteria of what were meant to be good clinical trials, he found virtually nothing in the literature that pointed to the efficacy of CAM other than that due to placebo effects.

In summary his answers to those four questions posed at the beginning are:
1. The placebo effect is real and is capable of exerting at least a temporary pain reduction effect. It occurs only in the presence of the belief that an intervention (or therapy) is capable of exerting this effect. This belief can be instilled through classical conditioning, or simply by the suggestion of a respected individual that this intervention (or therapy) can reduce pain.
2. The placebo effect has a plausible, biochemical mechanism or action (at least for pain reduction), and that mechanism of action is the body's endogenous opiod system.
3. There is no compelling credible scientific evidence to sugges that any CAM therapy benefits only medical condition or reduces any medical symptom (pain or otherwise) better than a placebo.
4. No CAM therapy has a scientifically plausible biochemical mechanism of action over and above those proposed for the placebo effet.

FINAL CONCLUSION: CAM therapies are nothing more than cleverly packaged placebos.

Those of you who are old enough to remember the hu-ha that surrounded the stories regarding acupuncture anaesthesia that came out of China at the time of the Nixon-Mao meeting in the 70's perhaps would like to know what a professor of medicine in Beijing told me. They are no longer using that, and the party leaders, when they go for surgery of any form, inevitbaly would choose anaesthesia given conventionally over acupuncture.

I think that says it all.

Why?

Because Bausell's position on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is simply this: it's no more effective than a placebo. This is not something that millions of people want to hear. Regardless, he puts together a compelling case to support this contention. In fact I would call his conclusion inescapable.

R. Barker Bausell is a research methodologist or biostatistician, a professor at the University of Maryland, and has had many years experience in evaluating research studies. It knows the ways researchers can fool themselves, leading to biased results, and he spells them out in elaborate detail. To demonstrate a point, he recalls the work of famed research psychologist Joseph Banks Rhine at Duke University who seemed to establish statistically that people can indeed demonstrate clairvoyance by guessing face down cards, and telepathy by reading other people's minds. Rhine conducted so many experiments over so many years that the above average success of his subjects could not happen by chance. Unfortunately one day he innocently revealed that he had "a filing cabinet filled with results of experiments that had produced only chance results or lower." He explained that "these particular results were produced by people who were deliberately guessing incorrectly just to spite him." (p.270)

Bausell's point is that if studies are selected, then the statistical evaluation of the effectiveness of card guessing or some kind of treatment, is invalid. Bausell notes that this selective process occurs not just from decisions made by researchers but by peer review journals and by the results that research sponsors may suppress as not helping the sales of their product or treatment. All studies done in China for example on the effectiveness of acupuncture are positive! Studies sponsored by CAM companies are also almost universally positive, and those that are not, are typically not published.

Bausell has analyzed thousands of studies and finds that most do not fall within what he considers good research guidelines. The most frequent fault is the lack of a placebo control group. Without such a group it is impossible to say whether the results of the study exceed what would be expected from the placebo effect. Bausell goes into a lot detail on this and other research methodological points and makes what seems to me to be an air-tight case for rejecting the results of studies that do not meet good research guidelines. He even demonstrates the probable mechanism for the placebo effect: endogenous opioids induced in the subject's brain by belief in the effectiveness of the treatment.

This brings me to the question, what's wrong with improvement that comes from the placebo effect? Nothing, is Bausell's answer, although placebo improvements usually are relatively short-lived and of moderate effectiveness. And there is nothing wrong with using CAM therapies if conventional methods are exhausted. If. The problem is that people shell out a lot of money for very little benefit, and in some cases neglect using conventional medicine or treatments that would work.

A curious conundrum arose in my mind as I read this book. What if everybody were as sophisticated as Professor Bausell and knew that CAM therapies were no more effective than placebos? Wouldn't they then be without even the hope of a placebo benefit?

This book will be read by few true believers or practitioners of such CAM therapies as homeopathy, acupuncture, distant healing, therapeutic touch, etc. And those trained in Ayurvedic or traditional Chinese medicine will be appalled at how blithely Bausell dismisses the efficacy of their ancient traditions. Personally I was surprised to learn that acupuncture really isn't effective beyond the placebo level. Certainly the theoretical basis of the Ayurvedic and Chinese healing arts is in conflict with the way modern science understands the human body. Still I wonder if these venerable bodies of knowledge can be completely discounted as Bausell seems to discount them.

The people who will read this book, and should, are practitioners of medical research who want to be sure that they understand how such research should be conducted, and others who want the unvarnished truth about CAM. From this point of view--and I think it is the proper one--this is an outstanding book, probably destined to become the recognized work on the effectiveness of CAM research methods and results for some time to come.

Highly recommend!
A very readable book that explains how you can take control of your health for the cost of a book.

The things you will learn in this book will contribute to your good health. May also save your life or someone else's . My daughter Margo had gum trouble and her teeth were loose. 3 days, thats right after 3 days her gums were tight for the first time in her life. teeth were stunning bright. Try it equal parts of baking soda and salt. Brush 2 times a day. you will be amazed. Order this book for a better way of life

Ed Hinchey

There is so much information in this book. It takes time to really read it through. I believe the information found in the book is much needed for preventative health. My suggestion is that you purchase the books broken down by parts ie: hands,feet,head etc. There is too much information to digest at one time. Great for reference!

I LOVE this book SO MUCH! I bought this book with high hopes of helping the chronic pain I have had for in my feet for over 6 years, and IT REALLY Works! My friend told me about this book and how it had helped her, so I went and ordered it the same day. After reading the book and learning how to give my self reflexology treatments, the pain in my feet has decreased by at least 75%. This book is a god sent. Thank you Mildred Carter, you are an angel!!!!

I devoured each chapter in this book. Easy to read/understand and follow Mrs. Carter's directions for self help. . . . I can already see personal results from using her reflexology techniques. . .

This book has some great info but it jumps around alot. Needs more organization.

I bought this book used and was in excellent condition. It was delivered in a timely manner which made me very happy.
Thank you.

This was another required book for my education. My instructor is very happy with it. It is easy to read but the CD enclosed leaves much to be desired. The illustrations could be better, in my opinion, but I don't have anything to compare it to except my own expectations. All in all a good book but it could be improved.

This was a required text for class. So far the info seems to be objective and useful, especially as far as the industry/profession itself is concerned historically.

This book is full of requires stuff that every massage student should know. I liked the chapters on hygiene, body mechanics and business practices. The book reads in a pretty technical way. So, yes, it's quite wordy, but it is pretty complete. All in all, one of the needed books to study from for the National Certification Exam. Other required books for Massage National Certification Exam PREPARTION ARE:

Patrick Leonardi's "The Ulitimate Study Guide for the National Certicfication for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork,
volumes 1,2 & 3. This has wonderful questions that helped to keep me on track.

While I admire many other books in the series (particularly the volume on satanic love-making techniques) I was a little concerned by the wisdom of this volume. Should we really be encouraging 'complete idiots' to try their hand at sticking needles into the nervous systems of others in the name of medicine? Still, it's not quite as worrrying as the announcement of the forthcoming 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Performing Gender-Realignment Surgery'.

If you know nothing about Acupuncture or Acupressure and are considering treatment this book is a great introduction. Although it talks about Acupressure more than Acupuncture the pressure points are the same for both methods. It talks about the most common issues people seek treatment for, explains what to expect on your first visit, and the basic science behind this ancient form of treatment. I highly recommend it for people who are considering this treatment and have no experience with it.

This book is very informative whether you are just considering acupuncture or have tried it and want to know more about it.

this book talks more about acupressure and how to use it but does not go into that much depth for accupunture.

I am looking to understand accupuncture and accupressure without having to suffer through reading text-book style presentations on the subject. Hence my choice of an "Idiot's Guide" book -- I thought it would give me, in layman's terms, a greater understanding of the concepts on which accupuncture and accupressure are based -- kind of a mini-course on the subject. Instead, it focused on what practitioners of these medical arts can do for the patient and what to expect when visiting a practitioner.

While the book does provide descriptions of points that can be stimulated on one's body to alleviate selected conditions as well as visuals in the form of pictures, these are quite limited and not easy to follow.

Also, as I read the book, I was annoyed by the poor editing of the text. Frequent grammatical problems undermine the book's credibility.

Hence my disappointment.