Acupuncture Therapy for Neck and Shoulder Pain

I often use acupuncture to treat neck and shoulder pain.   The best results come from the correct TCM diagnosis, acupuncture point selection, and acupuncture and acupressure technique.  In this article I will tell you about Chinese medicine diagnosis and acupuncture point selection for neck and shoulder pain.  In the next post, I’ll write more about my specialized form of acupressure for neck and shoulder pain.

Chinese medicine states that illness occurs due to imbalances in the body.  Acupuncture helps to correct the imbalances allowing the body to heal.  For neck and shoulder pain, the most common imbalance is called stagnation.

There is an old Chinese medicine saying, “When there is movement, there is no pain.  When there is no movement, there is pain.”

Basically when qi (the body’s energy) is moving freely in the body you feel healthy.  But when there is an injury, wear and tear, or chronic stress the energy circulation slows down and gets stuck, which causes pain.  Chronic stress is one of the most common causes of stagnation, which is why it is easy to develop pain and injuries when you are under a lot of pressure.

Underlying Weakness

Pain relief depends on treatment of the correct imbalance.  One very common issue with neck and shoulder pain is qi weakness.  While stagnation is a buildup and lack of circulation, an underlying qi weakness may be the cause of it.  In this case, the acupuncture must focus on building up the energy to promote healing.

Acupuncture Treatment for Neck and Shoulder Pain

Pain relief with acupuncture for neck and shoulder pain depends on identifying the proper imbalance and then creating an effective acupuncture point prescription.

If the imbalance is stagnation without weakness, then I choose more acupuncture points that are at the location of pain.  In this case, it would be acupuncture points on the neck and shoulders such as Gallbladder 20, Gallbladder 21, Small Intestine 11, and Du 14.     Also, points such a Gallbladder 34 should be used to open the acupuncture channel.

When the root cause of the shoulder pain is an underlying weakness, then acupuncture points to boost up the qi should be used.  These point could be Spleen 6, Kidney 3, and Liver 3.  I also use a specialized form of acupressure for shoulder pain which I’ll write about in the next post.  People usually feel some relief after the first treatment.  It is best to get a full treatment course for long term benefit.  Most often this is about 4-8 visits.