Monday, July 29, 1996<\/p>\n
By Dawn Shurmaitis<\/p>\n
Take a simple clove of garlic. Now, imagine a doctor from the West and
\nanother doctor from the Orient observing the same clove. The Westerner will figure out what chemical in the garlic lowers cholesterol, put that chemical in a pill and sell it.<\/p>\n
The Oriental will say, simply, “Eat the garlic.”<\/p>\n
That, according to Dr. William Clearfield, is one way to look at the
\ndifferences between more familiar and traditional medical methods and
\nancient medicinal arts like acupuncture.<\/p>\n
You know — that thing with the needles.<\/p>\n
Acupuncture, Clearfield stresses, is not a cure for disease. Mostly, it
\nhelps relieve pain. Clearfield also uses it to help treat asthma,
\nemphysema, allergies, sinus problems and migraines at his Wilkes-Barre
\noffice.<\/p>\n
“We’re basically fooling the body’s pain fibers into not firing,” he says.<\/p>\n
“How do we know if we’re doing anything? You go back and ask `How’s that
\nfeel?’ They say `good’ and we know.”<\/p>\n
On a recent morning, Clearfield’s three examination rooms are full. So
\nRudy, who suffers from a heel spur, is stretched out in a comfy chair in
\nClearfield’s private office.<\/p>\n
Rudy was taking double and triple shots of medicine right in his heel, and
\nit wasn’t making any difference.<\/p>\n
He turned to Clearfield, who explains what he’s about to do: The Chinese,
\nhe says, translate pain as fire. Like when Rudy steps on his heel and says
\n“It’s on fire.”<\/p>\n
So Clearfield finds a counter point, a water point, to squelch the pain.<\/p>\n
“It sounds kind of voodooish,” he admits. “But we put the needle in what
\nthe Chinese call a water point to put the fire out.”<\/p>\n
Acupuncture is usually the last alternative for patients who have seen
\nother specialists, taken medicine and undergone batteries of tests. By the
\ntime most people in pain come to Clearfield, other possibilities, such as a
\ntumor, have been ruled out.<\/p>\n
The needles, which resemble ordinary sewing needles, are crafted in Korea.
\nOccasionally, when he inserts one, a patient passes out.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, when the needle is removed, there is a drop of blood. Other than
\na red spot that soon disappears, there is no evidence the skin was even
\npricked.<\/p>\n
When acupuncture patients talk about Clearfield, who is quick and lean with
\ndeep-set brown eyes, they speak in terms of minor miracles.<\/p>\n
“My back went out and I couldn’t move. They had to take me to the hospital
\nin an ambulance,” says one. “Dr. Clearfield put a needle in my lip and I
\nwas able to move.<\/p>\n
“I don’t know how it works but I swear by it.”<\/p>\n
Although he’s practicing a medicine some might call New Age, most of his
\npatients are anything but flower children and granola heads.<\/p>\n
But when he puts a blob of mugwort on the tip of an inserted needle, lights
\na stick of incense and sets the herb on fire, it’s easy to think “Timothy
\nLeary” instead of “William Clearfield.”<\/p>\n
The herb, he explains, “draws energy into the area we’re working on. We’re
\ntrying to balance the energy in her body.”<\/p>\n
As part of the procedure, Clearfield turns on soft music and dims the
\nlights. The patient is left — needles in, pain relieved — for 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
“It’s quite relaxing,” Clearfield says of the treatment that, at first,
\nlooks like a punk fashion statement. “Most patients fall asleep.”<\/p>\n
Clearfield treats about 100 patients a week. About half of his practice is
\nnow devoted to acupuncture. Otherwise, he’s a family doctor.<\/p>\n
He finished his medical residency in 1982 and began practicing acupuncture
\nin 1989, after nine months of schooling at UCLA. A Philadelphia native, he
\ngot his start in Wilkes-Barre after inheriting a practice from an elderly
\ndoctor who died.<\/p>\n
There was a niche to fill, babies to deliver and pain to relieve.<\/p>\n
He is married to a psychologist and the couple lives in Kingston with their
\ntwo kids and two dogs, Chip and Teddy.<\/p>\n
If not a doctor, Clearfield might have been a writer. Two of his novels —
\nmurder mysteries — haven’t been published yet. But he has achieved a
\ncertain notoriety in the acupuncture community, serving as secretary of the
\nNational Institute of Acupuncture.<\/p>\n
Slowly, he says, acupuncture is acquiring acceptance in this country. When
\nhe traveled recently to San Francisco, Clearfield noted 22 pages of
\nacupuncturists in the phone book. Here in Wilkes-Barre, there are two.<\/p>\n
Doctors, not pages.<\/p>\n
“We’re getting there,” he says. “It just takes a little while.”<\/p>\n
Still, it’s rare to find an insurance company that pays for the treatment,
\nwhich costs $60 a session at Clearfield’s office.<\/p>\n
“It gets very frustrating giving people pills and telling them there’s
\nnothing else you can do,” he says.<\/p>\n
“This is fun.”<\/p>\n
TIMES LEADER\/LEWIS GEYER<\/p>\n
Dr. William Clearfield<\/p>\n
Dawn Shurmaitis<\/p>\n
Up Close<\/p>\n
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