Every year millions of Americans young and old seek medical treatment for acute and chronic pain. Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine provide rapid, complete healing of pain and injuries safely, completely, and without side-effects.
Types of Injuries
Back, neck, and overuse injuries involve damage to various body tissues. Chronically tense muscles develop excruciatingly painful areas called trigger points by Western medicine. These arise when the “brain cell” of a muscle gets activated into an excessively coiled state, as a result of chronic physical or emotional tension, poor posture, or due to sudden unusual exertion like lifting a heavy weight. This causes irritation, inflammation and pain in a specific area, like between the shoulder blades. The area feels tense, tight, is tender to pressure, and may radiate pain away from the area. Trigger points are associated with headaches, neck and back pain, tennis elbow, and carpal tunnel.
Tendinitis, is inflammation of the tissues that connect muscles to bones. This happens a lot in overuse injuries such as forearm pain or carpal tunnel associated with keyboard usage. Here, due to tight, shortened, exhausted muscles, blood flow is restricted and lactic acid builds up in the tendons where they attach to the bone, leading to inflammation, pain, weakness, and swelling.
Back and neck pain injuries involve various combinations of tense, shortened irritated muscles, trigger points, and compression of nerves either at their roots by bulging discs,(called “pinched nerves” in the past) or at the periphery by shortened tense muscles.
Nerve pain, called Sciatica, when involving the large nerve that runs through the buttock and leg, involves intense pain that radiates down the arm or leg, with possible numbness or tingling. Symptoms of nerve damage involve muscle weakness.
How Acupuncture Helps
Chinese medicine includes the use of Acupuncture, Massage, Herbal Medicines, and herbal lotions, compresses and plasters. Acupuncture is especially valuable for the treatment of pain because it accomplishes so many tasks at once.
First, it stimulates the secretion of the neurotransmitters called endorphins that send the body into the Relaxation Response. This relaxes muscles and improves blood circulation, bringing new oxygen to tissues and reducing inflammation and pain.
Second, it stimulates the adrenal glands to secrete our body’s own natural cortisone product called cortisol that powerfully fights inflammation throughout the body.
Third, acupuncture has a direct localized anti-inflammatory effect on the specific tissues of an actual injury site. For example, if you have a painful tennis elbow or low back pain, and you place ultrathin, sterile acupuncture needles in the muscles surrounding the joint, it has an anti-inflammatory effect that is caused by the direct relationship between the the needles and the inflammed tissues themselves. Scientists believe this is accomplished via the endocrine system.
Fourth, acupuncture on muscular “motor points” causes muscles to actually lengthen, thereby releasing mechanical pressures on tendons, ligaments, nerve roots, and vertebral spaces.
Fifth, acupuncture deactivates the painful trigger points that are at the root of many repetitive use injuries and much back and neck pain.
Fifth, in chronic pain cases, acupuncture helps “turn the pain” messages of the nerves off” and coupled with therapeutic exercises creates new neural pathways without pain.
Acupuncture is practically painless, is performed with sterile disposable needles, and is performed in California by highly trained professionals licensed by the California Medical Board.
San Diego Acupuncturist Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac., has been doing Acupuncture in San Diego for 16 years, specializing in the the treatment of Pain, Injury, Internal Medicine, and Pediatrics. He can be reached at 619.296.7591, and for an in-depth bio go to www. bodymindwellnesscenter.com
