Acupuncturists
Diagnose, treat, and prevent disorders by stimulating specific acupuncture points within the body using acupuncture needles. May also use cups, nutritional supplements, therapeutic massage, acupressure, and other alternative health therapies.
Also known as: Acupressure Therapist, Acupressurist, Acupuncture Doctor, Acupuncture Physician, Acupuncture Provider, Acupuncturist, Auricular Acupuncturist, Auricular Detoxification Specialist, ...
Annual Salary
Median annual wage (May 2024)
Job Outlook
Projected growth, 2024–2034 (Faster than average)
What You'd Do
- Formulate herbal preparations to treat conditions considering herbal properties, such as taste, toxicity, effects of preparation, contraindications, and incompatibilities.
- Maintain and follow standard quality, safety, environmental, and infection control policies and procedures.
- Maintain detailed and complete records of health care plans and prognoses.
- Dispense herbal formulas and inform patients of dosages and frequencies, treatment duration, possible side effects, and drug interactions.
- Consider Western medical procedures in health assessment, health care team communication, and care referrals.
- Adhere to local, state, and federal laws, regulations, and statutes.
- Treat patients using tools, such as needles, cups, ear balls, seeds, pellets, or nutritional supplements.
- Educate patients on topics, such as meditation, ergonomics, stretching, exercise, nutrition, the healing process, breathing, or relaxation techniques.
- Evaluate treatment outcomes and recommend new or altered treatments as necessary to further promote, restore, or maintain health.
- Assess patients' general physical appearance to make diagnoses.
- Collect medical histories and general health and lifestyle information from patients.
- Apply moxibustion directly or indirectly to patients using Chinese, non-scarring, stick, or pole moxa.
- Apply heat or cold therapy to patients using materials, such as heat pads, hydrocollator packs, warm compresses, cold compresses, heat lamps, or vapor coolants.
- Analyze physical findings and medical histories to make diagnoses according to Oriental medicine traditions.
- Develop individual treatment plans and strategies.
- Treat medical conditions, using techniques such as acupressure, shiatsu, or tuina.
- Insert needles to provide acupuncture treatment.
- Identify correct anatomical and proportional point locations based on patients' anatomy and positions, contraindications, and precautions related to treatments, such as intradermal needles, moxibustion, electricity, guasha, or bleeding.
Top Skills
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Knowledge Areas
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Education Level Distribution
Percentage of workers in this occupation by education level
Technology & Tools
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In-Demand Technologies
Other Tools
Work Styles
Personality traits and work styles important for this career
Key Abilities
Cognitive, physical, and sensory abilities important for this role
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Activities
General types of job behaviors occurring on this job
Importance scale: 1 (low) – 5 (high)
Work Environment
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Salary data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024. Outlook data: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–2034.
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.