People with back pain often find relief in acupuncture after other treatments have not worked.
From a Chinese medicine and acupuncture point of view, this is because the underlying imbalance was not corrected. A successful treatment must be tailored specifically to what is going on with your back.
Physiologically, it is probably because acupuncture works holistically with the body, address many levels of the pain and condition. It works to relax the muscles, stimulate healing in the connective tissues, and reset the nervous system.
What are the imbalances that would need correcting?
The two major imbalances which cause back pain are deficiency and stagnation.
“When there is no movement, there is pain. When there is movement, there is no pain.”
Stagnation is when there is not enough flow of energy through the back. Trauma, stress, or injury can cause the qi flow, or energy flow, in the body to slow down and gets stuck. When there is no flow, pain develops. Car accident, sports injury, and stress can lead to development of stagnation.
Deficiency is when there is not enough energy in body. The body needs qi, or energy, in order to function healthy. Gradual, slow, chronic onset of back pain can be a sign that there is not enough energy, or a qi deficiency.
Sometimes there is a combination of deficiency and stagnation. This can happen after a long period of time after an accident and not getting better.
How do I Individualize the Acupuncture for Each Patient?
During the initial acupuncture visit, I will do an examination and assessment of what is the root cause of the back pain. Then I will create an individualized acupuncture treatment for that person.
The skill of effective acupuncture is matching the correct treatment to the root cause of the back pain. This involves choosing the correct acupuncture points, deciding what type of stimulation to give the acupuncture needles, and if I should use electro -acupuncture stimulation.
I also include acupressure, cupping, or gua sha as supplemental therapies for back pain. For some people we may also use ear magnets or auricular acupuncture, which is very powerful for pain relief. The proper combination of these treatments leads to profound and long term pain relief.
In the next couple posts I will share three stories to illustrate how acupuncture can help back pain. The first is a patient who had chronic back pain after a car accident, the second is a marathon runner who developed back pain while training, and the third is a woman with chronic back pain that gets much worse during periods of stress.
If you have questions about acupuncture for chronic back pain, please or call us 917-887-4946 to make an appointment.
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From a Chinese medicine and acupuncture point of view, this is because the underlying imbalance was not corrected. A successful treatment must be tailored specifically to what is going on with your back.
Physiologically, it is probably because acupuncture works holistically with the body, address many levels of the pain and condition. It works to relax the muscles, stimulate healing in the connective tissues, and reset the nervous system.
What are the imbalances that would need correcting?
The two major imbalances which cause back pain are deficiency and stagnation.
“When there is no movement, there is pain. When there is movement, there is no pain.”
Stagnation is when there is not enough flow of energy through the back. Trauma, stress, or injury can cause the qi flow, or energy flow, in the body to slow down and gets stuck. When there is no flow, pain develops. Car accident, sports injury, and stress can lead to development of stagnation.
Deficiency is when there is not enough energy in body. The body needs qi, or energy, in order to function healthy. Gradual, slow, chronic onset of back pain can be a sign that there is not enough energy, or a qi deficiency.
Sometimes there is a combination of deficiency and stagnation. This can happen after a long period of time after an accident and not getting better.
How do I Individualize the Acupuncture for Each Patient?
During the initial acupuncture visit, I will do an examination and assessment of what is the root cause of the back pain. Then I will create an individualized acupuncture treatment for that person.
The skill of effective acupuncture is matching the correct treatment to the root cause of the back pain. This involves choosing the correct acupuncture points, deciding what type of stimulation to give the acupuncture needles, and if I should use electro -acupuncture stimulation.
I also include acupressure, cupping, or gua sha as supplemental therapies for back pain. For some people we may also use ear magnets or auricular acupuncture, which is very powerful for pain relief. The proper combination of these treatments leads to profound and long term pain relief.
In the next couple posts I will share three stories to illustrate how acupuncture can help back pain. The first is a patient who had chronic back pain after a car accident, the second is a marathon runner who developed back pain while training, and the third is a woman with chronic back pain that gets much worse during periods of stress.
If you have questions about acupuncture for chronic back pain, please or call us 917-887-4946 to make an appointment.
photo: