BY RANDY GRIFFITH
An ancient healing practice is finding new acceptance through two local physicians.
Drs. Craig Fockler and Sharon Plank are both medical acupuncturists and say they are using the oriental technique to relieve pain and treat other conditions in conjunction with traditional treatments.
“It has been around for 3,000 years,” Plank said. “It is just a different approach to healing than conventional medicine.”
Both physicians are family practice doctors with specialized training in acupuncture. Fockler has offices at Windber Medical Center and in the Alum Bank Community Health Center near Pleasantville, Bedford County.
Plank is with the John Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute, 1450 Scalp Ave. in Richland.
Acupuncture involves inserting hair-thin needles into “energy centers” of the body shown to affect various functions. While the traditional explanation has the needles refocusing the energy channels, Plank said modern technology confirms the basic tenets. Acupuncture points are shown to have more nerves and blood flow, and a functional magnetic resonance imaging scan shows specific areas of the brain respond to correctly placed acupuncture needles.
“How acupuncture works: It essentially restores the body’s natural healing process,” Fockler said.
While acupuncture is seldom considered a cure, the World Health Organization recommends acupuncture for relief of a long list of conditions.
They include respiratory diseases, dental conditions, orthopedic disorders, gastrointestinal disorders and neurological disorders.
Treatment of acute and chronic pain is where acupuncture is finding the most success locally, both doctors say.
“My practice is predominately pain treatment,” Fockler said. “I’d say about 80 percent of the people are helped. They are able to decrease their pain medication.”
Back pain and migraine headaches are the primary complaints that bring patients to the medical acupuncturists.
Plank and the neuroscience institute completed a study of migraine response to acupuncture. A second phase is about to begin.
“It is going to be published,” Plank said. “We had statistically significant improvement with the first study. That is how we were able to have the second study.”
Both doctors said they began investigating acupuncture and other integrative medicine to help patients find pain relief that does not involve medication.
“When I got out of medical school I felt I was going to have all the answers,” Fockler said.
“Unfortunely, we do not.”
Seeing patients who were in real pain being treated with ever-greater doses of strong medication made him look for different answers.
“Some would like a pill that would take care of the problem,” Fockler said. “But there is no pill that will take care of everything.”
Plank said her questions also began as soon as she got out of medical school.
“Even starting my residency, I was disillusioned with having no preventive measures before medication,” Plank said. “I was most interested in nutrition, stress reduction and exercise as a way to change health.”
Those who fear needles should not shun acupuncture, Plank stressed, noting the acupuncture needles are only the diameter of about three human hairs. Although she acknowledges everybody’s pain level is different, few of her patients complain about the treatment.
“ ‘It is not painful.’ That’s what they say. ‘Why was I so worried?’ ” Plank said.
Although they admit some skepticism is natural, more and more patients are becoming acupuncture believers.
“Patients listen when you explain it to them and show them the benefits,” Fockler said.
“People who have migraines are very frustrated with side effects of their medication,” Plank said.
“We find a lot of acceptance. They are ready to try anything. With acupuncture, you don’t get side effects.”
Acupuncture works best as another tool in the arsenal of properly trained physicians who can properly diagnose the underlying problems, Fockler said.
A group of licensed acupuncturists who are not physicians questions that view. The Medical Acupuncture Facts group’s Web site says its practitioners have at least “three years of acupuncture training by licensed schools of acupuncture and Oriental medicine.”
They say the medical acupuncture practiced by physicians such as Plank and Fockler is “an overly simplified and quickly ‘trained’ version of true acupuncture.”
In Pennsylvania, the state Medical Board recognizes both paths for licensing.
