But what many may not realize is that there is an additional component: the use of hundreds of herbs many acupuncturists say have been essential in achieving a healthy balance.

“It's like a cleansing,” said acupuncture client Edith Torres. “If you're coming in for your migraine the herbs kind of help you protect your head from getting the headaches and the acupuncture just makes that extra ‘oomph’ for you.”

But while New York State awards degrees and licenses acupuncturists, there is no provision that actually allows them to prescribe herbs, even though it has been part of the practice for centuries.

Acupuncturists say it's a loophole that could potentially threaten their field, possibly leaving them open to malpractice and uncovered for liability insurance. It could also leave some patients vulnerable to practitioners who aren't fully trained.

Now a new bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Ellen Young of Queens is moving through Albany to help change that.

“It's all about keeping people safe and giving the authority to acupuncturists they deserve,” said Young. “That is to make suggestions or write formulas of herb medicine.”

Acupuncture

Most of us recognize acupuncture as a traditional Chinese approach to medicine that involves inserting tiny needles through the skin around different parts of the body for healing. Diana Palotas reports.

“You can walk into any vitamin, herbal health food store on the planet and someone who has just graduated from high school can give you an opinion about what herbal remedy to take,” said Gina Lepore of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine. “Our bill does not prevent that from happening. What our bill says is that as acupuncturists who are fully trained that you know we want to have this within our scope of practice.”

At the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine there are over 300 different kinds of herbs that students learn about that have lots of different functions and properties. So you can see why they say it's a vital part of their practice.

“There's endless combinations of these 300-plus herbs that properly arranged according to the formulas, some of which have been around for 4,000 years, there is no limit to what you can do to help restore balance and health to your patients,” said Pacific College faculty member Jeremy Pulsifier.

Young's bill would also include new standards for continued education and certification, which practitioners supporting the bill say can only boost the viability of a field that's never quite been viewed as mainstream.