Could Acupuncture Help Quell Your Low Back Pain
Could Acupuncture Help Alleviate Your Low Back Pain?
The most general causes patients to search for acupuncture treatments is chronic pain, joint pain and arthritis – especially pain in their lower back. For so many people, acupuncture and Oriental or Chinese Medicine has been an good part of their treatment regimen for pain. But how does it work, and can it work for you?
Pain in Chinese Medicine
In Chinese medicine, musculoskeletal pain and/or joint pain is referred to as bi syndrome. In Oriental Health terminology, bi means obstruction. The symptomatic feature of the obstruction can display properties that cause you to feel achy or experience stabbing, fixed, or hot pain. Some people respond positively to movement or workout while other individuals feel better with rest. Many musculoskeletal and joint upset are assembled into a subcategory of bi syndrome. An accurate diagnosis of type of bi being experienced by the individual ensures the sound selection of an acupuncture and herbal protocol to relieve and break the obstruction of qi and blood in the affected area.
Acupuncture and Back Pain – How it Works
Acupuncture works to eliminate and inactivate the trigger points (areas of localized constriction and inflammation). Each patients specific pain pattern can govern where the acupuncturist places the needles.
The utilization of acupuncture with Chinese herbal medicine expedites healing in a two pronged manner:
1.Firstly, by working to alleviate inflammation, local congestion and stagnation, pain is decreased.
2.Following that the local circulation is repaired, the second task is to nourish the muscles, discs, and musculature to return to a more fluid and subtle state.
According to Chinese Medicine certain muscles can ‘throw off’ pain patterns in regions of the body not directly affected by constriction or inflammation. An experienced acupuncturist is trained in trigger point deactivation techniques and will be capable to chart these patterns. The acupuncturist may then place needles both nearby and distally to the painful area. This approach allows the acupuncturist to tap into the body’s meridian system to treat local pain while also addressing deeper power currents within the body to alleviate the source of back pain.
Studies Support Acupuncture as an Effective Back Pain Treatment
A recent study published within the Archives of Internal Medicine expresses that acupuncture relieves back pain more so than traditional treatments. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), divided 638 participants with back pain into 4 groups. Two groups received acupuncture, 1 group received a placebo version of acupuncture in which the skin was stimulated but never pierced), and last group received no acupuncture, but continued whatever traditional treatment program they were on, be it pharmaceutical or physical treatment.
After seven weeks, all 3 groups who received acupuncture (or something like it) experienced better and more meaningful improvement in their back pain than the typical care group. Even placebo acupuncture methods yielded positive results.
The placebo acupuncture becoming as good as needle acupuncture raised questions about acupuncture works, and what it is about the technique that causes healing . Overall, 60% of the acupuncture-treated people, but simply 39% of the usual-care group patients had meaningful improvements in dysfunction.
Why employ Acupuncture for Low Back Pain?
Its estimated that almost 85% of individuals can experience back pain during their life and that nearly US $40 billion is spent each year for healthcare care to treat back pain. Anybody who has suffered through this chronic and debilitating pain knows that safe and effective treatments are needed for back pain. Acupuncture is a safe, affordable choice for those looking for treatment for their problems.
As a specialist in chronic pain, (I’ve spent hundreds of hours training with acupuncture and Chinese Medicine professionals to discover how to most well treat individuals and relieve their pain over the long-term. I’ve personally seen and worked with many patients who have discovered relief through acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. Some have were skeptical about other medicine to treat back pain, but there’s mounting evidence that it can be an effective tool in alleviating pain and developing a effective long-term treatment regimen to maintain people feeling healthy, pleased and pain-free.
Brendan Zachar Lac practices Acupuncture In Miami Florida and is owner of Backonpoint Acupunture And Wellness. Dr.Zachar also treats Back Pain In Miami Florida .