Balm:

ACUPUNCTURE

Some states do not require licensing from acupuncturists, some do. But all of them must be certified. Check with the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (Call 1-703-548-9004) or the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (Call 1-800- 521-2262) for a reliable practitioner near you.

Caution: just because someone is a chiropractor or doctor does not qualify them to use acupuncture unless they have been trained and certified. Ask how many hours training they took; to be competently qualified they must have 200 hours training. Some chiropractors have only 100 hours, which is not safely enough.

---

CHIROPRACTICS

Practitioners must be licensed in all states. To become licensed they must have 2-4 years at a chiropractic college, which includes some nutritional training, and must pass a national board exam. The best ones will work in conjunction with your doctor (to find out, see if they will send information to your doctor). Check with the American Chiropractic Association (Call 1-800-986- 4636) for a reliable chiropractor near you.

Caution: chiropractic is not long-term, so if a chiropractor wants you to sign for any lengthy amount of treatments (over 12 treatments --- if the condition is not improved by then, it probably won't), find a different practitioner. Also, if the practitioner tries to push X-rays on you in the first month, or tries to sell you supplements, try a different specialist. An ethical practitioner might suggest a supplement, but they won't sell it to you; they are chiropractors, not health food store salespersons.

---

HERBOLOGISTS / HERBALISTS

(still to come)

Caution: (still to come)

---

HOMEOPATHICS

(still to come)

Caution: (still to come)

---

NATUROPATHY

Some states do not require licensing from naturopaths, some do. Check with the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (1-206-298-0125) for a reliable naturopath near you. Though they are more qualified for prescribing herbs, nutritional supplements and homeopathic preparations, they are also qualified to prescribe drugs like antibiotics, and to do minor outpatient surgery (ie. removing moles). Be sure they graduated from an accredited college of naturopathy (in the US these are the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (Portland, Oregon), or Bastyr University (Kenmore, Washington) before entrusting your health to their care. Also, ask if they will work with your doctor (this may rely on your doctor's willingness to work as a team, more than the naturopath's willingness). Some may already have doctors they work with as a health-care team; this is a good option.

Caution: some naturopaths also practice acupuncture and / or chirpractics. Unless they have the full training in these treatments, they should be administered by qualified acupuncturists and chiropractors. (It's often best to stick to practitioners who specialize in just the one practice; the old saying "a man who specializes in everything is special at nothing" is quite often true.)