We hear this a lot because insurance companies in Missouri rarely cover acupuncture treatments, which to us seems strange as a dozen or so acupuncture treatments can sometimes help people to avoid years of prescription medication. What’s more, Oriental medicine strives to get to the root of the problem instead of only providing symptomatic relief.
Of course, expensive is in the eye of the beholder. Just what is it worth to you to get a restorative night’s sleep? Have the ability to eat what you want, and when? Or inhabit the vast equanimity of feeling your emotions without them calling the tune of your behavior or choices?
Just because the insurance company covers a certain procedure or protocol does not mean that is the best medicine for you.
Here at Yong Kang Clinic we tend to think that an insurance provided “solution” that is not working for you qualifies as expensive. It wastes your time; it wastes money that could be better on other options and contributes to the upward spiral of healthcare costs. Furthermore it could be giving you side effects, which then require another cascade of pharmaceutical medication or invasive procedures.
If you are taking as many pills to deal with the side effects of your treatment as you are to treat the original problem, then you just might want to consider that your body is paying a high price for the treatment you are receiving.
One of the criticisms of acupuncture for chronic conditions is that ongoing treatment might be needed. The same can be said of a pharmaceutical prescription that you need to take for years or even the rest of your life.
So the question really comes down to do you want to use a method that naturally encourages your body to do what is designed to do, or do you want to be dependent on a chemical substance?
At the end of the day, which is really more expensive?