Why crowdsourcing treatment advice almost never works
It’s exhausting when you don’t have a system to work within. When every patient that comes in is like starting over and not knowing what to do. Every treatment is guesswork and not knowing if something will work, or why it did one time and not another. Or worse yet, why what you’ve used before flared up this new patient.
Too often practitioners work on assumptions or guessing. They base treatment on what worked for a past patient, or because a colleague said it worked on their patient.
And much of these recommendations come from Crowdsourcing for treatment advice on social media. I started a group that has over 7500 members. But I had to get away from it.
The issue is, absent using a working system, crowdsourcing is ineffectual at best, and reckless at worse. It was the same thing over and over. Tons of people hopping in offering random suggestions absent any real case history, and it was all piecemeal. It was unhelpful and only confused the practitioner who posted the original question even more. The practitioner wasn’t taught how to fish. They were just fed temporarily. But even worse, the fish wasn’t even edible. (Ok enough analogies)
Can you imagine if your patient knew you were trying some random technique because another practitioner offered advice on Facebook?! When you think about it that way it’s pretty crazy.
But asking for advice CAN be helpful when it’s done in a certain way. Asking questions on a forum is much more valuable when it’s within a system and we’re speaking the same language. You can build within a system. You can make sense of the patient when you have a base of knowledge to work from. When someone posts a history of the patient, better advice can be offered. This also helps practitioners grow and not just have a crutch. I want practitioners to ask questions and learn more than just “here try this”. It’s much better to know the why and empower them to be more self sufficient…to grow into getting the answers themselves and knowing how to find them. Offering treatment advice is much more profound in this way.
A forum works much better this way and it works extremely well on our Locals community, where EXSTORE is the system that everyone works under. Its just a more responsible - and very effective - way of running a forum.
Size doesn’t matter. Having a smaller more effective community is better. The community continues to grow, but not just for the sake of growth.
The ASE Directory website is now fixed!
FOR THOSE WHO ATTENDED EXSTORE™ IN-PERSON: Make sure to add your free listing
How to create your listing:
Go to asedirectory.com and set up an account.
-Log in
-An option appears in the menu - Add Your Free Listing
-Click Add Your Free Listing and create your listing.
-It then sends me an email to review it. I make sure all the important parts are there, then I publish it and send you an email.
If you have any questions, please email me.
*I’ve spent hours on this website so for the love of god create your listing asap. Take advantage of this!
Again, you must have taken EXSTORE™ in-person to be eligible for a listing.
I know we go through scripting in EXSTORE. I wanted to see if anything could be modified with this image and evaluate my script. This is my Day 1.
Initial Strength, Mobility, or Pain Acupuncture Consultation Framework
Step 1: Build Rapport
Patient Walks Into the Clinic
Hello, are you (Patient's Name)?
My name is (Acupuncturist's Name). It's nice to meet you.
(Learn their name before they arrive so you can greet them confidently without looking at a chart.)
Before the Visit
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Initial paperwork should be completed online whenever possible.
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Have consent forms printed and ready.
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For pain patients, provide a body diagram to mark today's areas of concern. This creates a visual baseline that can be compared during future re-evaluations.
"There are just a few consent forms to complete before we begin. Please mark the areas you're experiencing on this body diagram, and we'll go over everything together once we're in the treatment room."
Getting Comfortable
How did you hear about our clinic?
(Helps track which marketing efforts are working.)
Is this your first acupuncture treatment?
Yes
"Great. I'll explain everything as we go, and if you have any questions along the ...
Does anyone have experience treating spasmodic dystonia of the vocal cords? I just saw this patient for the first time. She's a singer and speaker. Gradual onset after COVID or after the COVID shot. She's not sure. I treated the tight muscles of the SCM as well as points for the vagus nerve. Then in prone did a perfusion treatment of her neck from UB 10 to T-1. I suggested her seeing a neurologist to rule out Parkinsons. She's also on a statin for high calcium (not for high cholesterol) She's 67 and has a healthy lifestyle. Thanks in advance!
