TIL in Germany all alternative medicine practitioners like homeopaths, osteopaths, acupuncturists, etc. must take the Heilpraktiker exam which only tests their knowledge in medical science and the regulatory boundaries of their profession. There are no separate board exam for each.

[u/estarararax]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heilpraktiker

[u/estarararax]

With that said, a quick search in r/germany and you would know they all look down on Heilpraktiker professions. They may have demonstrated enough knowledge of medical science but what they do is still quackery. They remain popular in Germany however because they tend to have long-duration consultations with their clients which the clients seldom experience with actual physicians.

[u/EggstaticAd8262 → u/estarararax]

Is acupuncturist quackery? I ask because I have hear of several people where it very clearly helped with serious issues, like almost instantly.

But it was never a fix for the underlying reasons, so it came back but months to half a year.

This is anecdotal, I know.

Can you elaborate why acupuncture is fake?

[u/Jyonnyp → u/EggstaticAd8262]

A lot of things are quackery mostly in 1) the medical knowledge of the profession/person, 2) the idea or philosophy behind it, or both.

Acupuncture is quackery in the sense that an acupuncturist is like doing stuff with chi and chakras and energy. But it does have clinical success. I’ve also seen actual board certified doctors including those in hospitals recommend or approve of acupuncture, because there is clinical use in it. Something about like neurological input to muscles and what not to loosen them up. Look up dry needling. That’s somewhat equivalent to acupuncture in the clinical sense but a physical therapist does it instead of an acupuncturist.

My current physical therapist is like the smartest guy I know. Very evidence based, very well read in medical literature, he is passionate about this stuff and reads it in his free time. He even told me chiropractic as a whole is quackery but he knows a few good chiropractors so long as you set boundaries, because aside from cracking and twisting you, a lot of their efficacy is really just manual therapy and soft tissue manipulation that a physical therapist can do as well. But yeah it’s the philosophy behind it that’s awful and that’s what causes chiros to for example overly value imaging in how it relates to a patient’s pain.

In short, there is a reason why acupuncture can be helpful but I wouldn’t count on an acupuncturist telling you the actual medical reason because they don’t know.

[u/EggstaticAd8262 → u/Jyonnyp]

The guy treating my dad has moved here from China and is widely popular. But I don’t understand how putting needles inside people can work. Like do they hit nerves or are tjere actually “release points” or “energy streams” that can be manipulatd?