A couple of questions

[brynndragon]

It is entirely possible that deciding to factory-restore my netbook when I have some pretty hefty homework due the next day was not the wisest choice I could have made. OTOH, it takes several hours to reinstall World of Warcraft so that was one less possible distraction. I am certainly making good headway on it - it's taken me over an hour to write this post because my homework is so darn fascinating ;P.

Speaking of which, let me ask you a question: If you were to go into an acupuncturist's office, what would you expect to see there? (I'm curious what the answer is even if you've never been to an acupuncturist)

Actually, as long as you're here, let me ask you another question: When would you go to see a healer, and when would you go to see a doctor?

Comments

[divineseduction.livejournal.com]

Office - Through the few acupuncturists I've seen, I've gotten accustomed to, well, having each element represented. I was going to say, some kind of water feature, interesting metals, rich woods... and then I realized what I was getting at. Quality pieces of art and furniture, though sparsely furnished. Warm, inviting colors. Nicely temperate temperatures. And the lingering smell of lavender and moxa. And a sink to wash hands, somewhere. And drinking water.

Healer versus doctor? I've been trying to retrain my brain that doctor does not exclude acupuncturists. I've caught myself saying "well, I had to go to a real doctor for my wrist" which is bullshit. What I mean is a Western doctor, and I'm trying to be diligent about making the distinction in my head. Even so, to me, doctor says acute and urgent - broken bones, ruptured internal organs, severe bleeding. Partially because I don't know how that stuff is treated OMD-ly. For a healer, everything else. A healer helps be to get well. A doctor just fixes the broken bits. I know that doesn't quite make sense, but I think you see what I'm getting at.

And now, time for more chocolate. And kitties.

[cos]

I don't have any particular expectations of an acupuncturist's office. Maybe I expect it would look like a doctor's office.

> When would you go to see a healer, and when would you go to see a doctor?

So far, I've just gone to see a doctor, so I don't know when or if I'd go see a non-doctor healer.

[coriolinus.livejournal.com]

In a doctor's office, I expect to see a fairly comfortable waiting area, an attentive staff in scrubs, and a sterile-looking examination room with lots of white paint and bare metal. I expect there to be an ambient smell of antiseptic or other cleaning solution. If I see into the doctor's paperwork-office, I expect professional degrees on the walls and professional literature on the shelves.

I've never been to an acupuncturist's or other healer's, but I suspect things would be easiest for me if it resembled a doctor's in all of the above.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

If you were to go into an acupuncturist's office, what would you expect to see there?

I'm thinking bits and pieces of doctor's office, spa, and therapist's office.

When would you go to see a healer, and when would you go to see a doctor?

Presuming by "healer" you mean what I would think of as "alternative medicine practitioner" (acupuncture, accupressure, Chinese herbalism, etc.), I think I'd only go if Western medicine failed. In general: if it was a serious condition that Western medicine had no treatment for, or the side effects of treatment were worse than the disease, if treatment was not possible in an appropriate time frame. Chronic chronic pain conditions or cancer are two examples I can think of, though I would be unlikely to stop treatments recommended by doctors (unless I felt the side effects of them were worse than the disease).

[eetmewithtoast.livejournal.com]

If I were going to an accupuncturist's office, I'd expect it to look like a psychologist's: homey, comforting, restful colors and art. Definitely art in the waiting room (no damn TV spouting soaps, but please yes an array of magazines if I forget my book), and also the examination rooms should have murals on the ceilings, or interesting prints to gaze at, both the ceiling and the floor if you use those massage tables that have a hole for your face. I'm needlephobic, the only way I could relax with pins getting stuck in me (even tiny ones that I can't feel) is if I were looking at something interesting as it was happening.

When do I go to a doctor, when to a healer? Uh. I can't go to either right now, better ask me again when I have some form of health insurance and/or a decent job.

[emerlion.livejournal.com]

Notes-form, because I have a lot on my plate right now that I should be doing, but I couldn't resist replying:

MDs don't care so much about the feng shui. They provide a 30 - 60 second service and "comfort" isn't part of what they offer. I don't think they spend much time on art or deco. A whole bunch of the ones here have crosses hanging on the walls when you come in.

Acupuncture clinics tend to be more comfort-inspiring and homey-feeling. After all, the patient is going to be there for awhile and we want them to feel safe and able to relax.

A lot of acupuncturist offices in big cities tend to go with an Asian theme in their choice of artwork. Buddha statues or Kwan Yin abound; Taoist or Buddhist art. Bubbly Zen fountains and sleek wooden chairs both in the waiting area and the treatment rooms. Woo-woo meditation and Yoga music playing in the background.

I've also seen acupuncture clinics that try to be as Western clinical as possible. Certainly the treatment rooms have to have a certain amount of clinicalness in order to keep Clean Needle Technique and stay up to OSHA standards.

Because I'm in a podunk, fundamentalist town, and a lot of my patients are already feeling wooky because this medicine is so "Other", I keep away from Asian themes and anything obviously non-Christian. I have some tasteful, geometric, non-specific art on the walls of my waiting room, a couple of plants, and Sirius/XM non-genre-specific music playing. It feels more like someone's living room than a waiting room.

My treatment rooms are a pale shade of green. One room has green and yellow dominant art (palm trees, a palm plant) and the other has reds and purples (flowers, some of my cactus blossom photographs).

[laurion]

I'd go to a doctor when I needed a diagnosis, and a healer when I needed a treatment. I'd also be inclined to go to a doctor if solving the problem involved cures such as western medicine drugs or surgery, where, again, it comes down to different people specializing in different things. There are plenty of cases, however, where drugs are not the only answer, and that's usually when drugs are not a cure either, but a form of treatment.

[lionofgod.livejournal.com]

Office: A waiting area like the better kind of spa; quiet, earth-tones, peaceful, with plants or maybe some running water. Possibly also some informative booklets.

For your second question... honestly? I don't think I'd ever say "A doctor won't work for this, i need a healer". When I think I"I want something other than a doctor", I want an expert who will explain how best to be healthy in some specific way, not an alternate form of medicine. Less of a healer and more of an expert-in-healthy-living.

Come to think of it, there are two exceptions to that: I go to a chiropractor explicitly because I think it's been really effective *something*, albeit probably partly placebo and attention, for back pain; and I have been considering going to a hypnotist for my trichotillomania, because it might be a useful way to trick my brain into getting on my side. (Not that I'd have considered the second, ever, if my mother didn't keep bringing up "it worked for so-and-so" anecdotes, and I still haven't gotten around to it.) Both of those probably count as healers for your definition, and in both cases the reason I'm considering them is some combination of "inconvenient/expensive to work with dr/there in an emergency", "done in conjunction with dr", and "doctor didn't help much, might as well try something else."