Pain
Chronic pain, (pain of longer than 3-5 days duration,) is one of the most common reasons that people visit acupuncturists in the U.S. The sources and causes of pain are very numerous indeed; low back pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, pain from arthritis, fibromyalgia, headaches, etc. Fortunately, most pain can be managed very well with acupuncture. In fact, acupuncture is now used at all three branches of The Mayo Clinic for among other things, pain control, both acute as well as chronic.
From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) perspective, pain generally is characterized in two major ways, “sharp, stabbing,” or “dull, achy.” Sharp, stabbing pain is known as “Blood Stagnation” pain, and dull, achy pain is known as “Qi Stagnation” pain. Other vital information related to a given “pain” is whether the pain is “fixed” in one or more location(s), or is the pain more general or even “moving” in nature. While these terms may seem foreign or ambiguous to most westerners, they give the TCM practitioner invaluable information for designing an effective, long-lasting treatment plan for the patient.
“Acute” pain, as opposed to “chronic” pain refers most often to a recent injury or other situation causing pain, usually within the previous 3-5 days. Examples may be a sprained ankle, “pulled” muscle, migraine headache, etc. These situations are typically some of the easiest with which to achieve very rapid, positive results with acupuncture. For example, if a person “pulled” a muscle in their back and the pain is “fixed” and “stabbing,” then the TCM practitioner can select a series of acupuncture points, possibly with electrical stimulation in order to “move” this “blood stagnation” pain and provide pain relief. Another example is a “sinus headache” often brought on by a change in the seasons. This type of pain may be fixed and stabbing, dull and achy, “moving” or any combination of the above. Acupuncture points then will be selected to treat this condition appropriately based upon individual findings.
Chronic pain, as mentioned earlier, is one of the most common reasons in the U.S. people seek the assistance of an Acupuncturist or TCM practitioner. The same terms apply to chronic pain as do to acute pain, i.e., stabbing, fixed, dull, etc. In most chronic pain situations, however, the cause or “etiology” may be quite different. Common examples are “old football injuries” in the knees or low back, post-surgical pain (most commonly back and neck,) and fibromyalgia. While the applicable TCM terms, and very often treatment methods, apply to chronic pain as do to acute pain, there is a very major difference. This difference, and it may vary widely from individual to individual, is how often in the beginning as well as later on must the individual be treated in order to realize a significant measure of pain relief.
My personal clinical experience has been that in most cases of chronic pain, no matter what the cause(s,) 3-5 treatments within the first 10-14 days works best to begin to manage the situation. This is as true for most cases of fibromyalgia as it is for injuries, post-surgical pain, etc. Then, depending upon the individual results, the patient and practitioner together will formulate a treatment plan based upon the patient’s individual needs, personal schedule, finances, etc. Results certainly vary, but as soon as possible, we try to reach a point where the patient need only come in for a treatment once every 4-6 weeks or even longer intervals.
