I'm still on the fence about Dr. Pang, as I've only been seeing him for about half a year and it is too early to tell whether he is helping/has helped/will help my longer-term issues. I am convinced, however, that he is sincere and truly wants to help people and help heal them.
Dr. Pang is not for everyone, however. He doesn't have the most pleasant of personalities. He is testy, crumudgeonly, irritated, and moody. He doesn't like questions. He doesn't want to be bothered. He prefers simply to do his thing and not to be distracted. Even when I attempt to bring up a scheduling problem, it requires multiple attempts before he listens. At first mention, he shrugs his shoulders, though I have enough experience with him now to appreciate that he's not processing much of what I say to him. For most issues -- other than recent, acute injuries -- Dr. Pang is utterly uninterested in one's subjective opinion or report about her pain or improvement. He uses his own kinesthetic model to determine whether he's on the right path and couldn't be less interested in whether she reports benefit or not. In fact, he never asks.
Dr. Pang also uses thick-ass acupuncture needles -- much thicker than any other acupuncturist I've ever been to. He then screws these needles into the acupuncture point until I feel a jolt of pain (as if he struck a nerve) and then he backs off. I understand that he needs to know that the needle is in far enough so that the patient will receive benefit. I merely raise this issue because if one has had acupuncture before, it is quite possible (if not likely) that he won't be prepared for this type of needle torture. Like a Pavlov dog, I begin to sweat in anticipation of the needle pricking he's going to do as soon as I get on the table. While the pain is only for a few seconds (as long as I don't move), the initial shock of the needle finally hitting the right depth is agonizing.
As others have mentioned, his office is a bit on shabby side. He uses space heaters to warm the rooms, but as is always the case with such devices, the air is uneven and sometimes -- depending on how close or far one is from the heather -- the air is too hot or brutally cold.
I like that Dr. Pang supplements the use of his acupuncture with Chinese herbs. I couldn't tell you what those herbs are. They change each month and their inscriptions are in Chinese. He charges an additional fee (of $12) to have his assistants separate the herbs into daily packets. When he makes conversation, it's usually about some complaint he has about the world, the noise, the parking, or the like.
I believe that despite his limitations he is among the better acupuncturists I have visited. Ultimately, I am interested in alleviation of some longer term issues, and unlike what I would have expected, I have not received material improvements in those areas (other than what I also would have received with time). To be fair, however, Dr. Pang is attempting to treat the entire organism each time. While all acupuncturists claim to do this, they do not. Dr. Pang is treating every system and moving to place the entire body into optimal harmony. It's like moving a 1000 lb gorilla: it only moves one inch at a time. When I've asked Dr. Pang to be more aggressive with one issue or another, his responses (other than to indicate he dislikes my questions) suggest that he doesn't believe in upsetting one body-system to address another. Other acupuncturists I've been to would -- they would address smoking cessation or weight loss or back pain or whatever. Dr. Pang makes it perfectly clear that he doesn't want one to smoke or drink to excess or eat too much, etc., etc., etc., but he doesn't intervene in those processes. That sort of balance is primarily the responsibility of the individual. He's not a magician, as much as I sometimes would like him to be.
His pissy moods don't bother me. After five months, I'm used to him snapping at me at every appointment. Last time, it was because my white socks shed some lint when I took them off and it was showing up on his carpet. He gave me a good thrashing about that and instructed me to wear colored socks from now on. Dr. Pang is not the archetype of balance and calm, as one might expect. He is a healer in the abstract and a misanthrope in practice. In the end, it is I who couldn't care less as long as this long, drawn out process does provide a more optimal balance for my health. Time will tell. read more
