A recent acupuncture tutorial on Bell’s palsy offers a useful case study in how traditional medical metaphors can slide into pseudo-explanations. The speaker begins reasonably enough. Bell’s palsy is described as a paralysis of the seventh cranial nerve, the facial nerve. He correctly notes the importance of early steroid treatment and the need to distinguish … Continue reading Deconstructing Acupuncture Metaphors: Bell’s Palsy, Wind, and the Problem of Symbolic Medicine