Acupuncture and Pain Relief

Written by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc


In my later years of medical school, I thought that pain treatment was below me. Even though acupuncture was best known for its effective pain relief, I thought thatrepparttar Western medical world was simply behind as usual. We were amazed to learned allrepparttar 114748 other diseases we could treat with acupuncture, like neurological problems, immune system dysfunction, anxiety, and depression, and I thought, "Anyone can treat pain. I'd rather focus on something more interesting."

As I wrote about Chinese medicine onrepparttar 114749 Pulse website, I thought, "It would be more beneficial for acupuncture's image if I focused on something like psychology. And, people really need to understandrepparttar 114750 complexity and power of our herbal medicine system."

So talking aboutrepparttar 114751 treatment of pain wasn't really on my list.

Western vs. Eastern Pain Relief But, I couldn't help seeing that Western medicine didn't have great pain relief solutions. They always haverepparttar 114752 side effects of some drugs, andrepparttar 114753 addictive potential ofrepparttar 114754 opiates (their most powerful pain killers).

My wonderfully well-read wife subscribes to a journal called The Pain Practitioner (www.aapainmanage.org/literature/PainPrac.php). After reading that for a few months, I suddenly realized that they never mentioned acupuncture. That's crazy, I thought. After all, it competes with drugs in terms of effectiveness and doesn't cause side effects. Plus, it's superior in permanently removing neurogenic pain, and preventing temporary pain from going throughrepparttar 114755 "grooved intorepparttar 114756 brain" process that leads to chronic pain syndromes.

When you think of acupuncture,repparttar 114757 first thing that should come to mind is "Superior for treating pain."

Higher Standards for Pain Relief with Acupuncture I've found that many acupuncturists do not enjoy treating pain. I think this may be because they haven't learned a style of acupuncture that treats pain effectively and quickly. In October 2002, I began a mentorship with Robert Chu, who had learned a quick and powerful pain-relieving acupuncture system from a student ofrepparttar 114758 famous Taiwanese acupuncturist, Master Tong.

Dr. Chu has taught me several acupuncture systems that are not currently taught in acupuncture schools. His goal is immediate pain relief, to some degree, and immediate relaxation or a sense of well being in other diseases.

This is a high standard - we can't always achieve total pain relief with one treatment. It may take ten treatments to make a permanent dent in some situations. But I like having big goals. I think I'm more likely to make progress that way.

Location and Cause of Pain Inrepparttar 114759 clinic, first we find out where your pain is. If you've been in an accident, or there are nerve-related issues, we do a physical examination to discoverrepparttar 114760 nature ofrepparttar 114761 problem. For example, your pain may be due to a problem inrepparttar 114762 spine, messages fromrepparttar 114763 brain, one of your internal organs, or because you've bruised a muscle, tendon, or ligament.

Sometimes, we can't find an obvious cause, even with X-rays, MRI's, and lab tests. We have to assume then thatrepparttar 114764 cause is neurogenic- fromrepparttar 114765 brain, nervous system, or evenrepparttar 114766 psyche. Pain can be a manifestation of emotion. There's nothing wrong, or less valid about that kind of pain.

Actually, Chinese medicine is well-suited to treat that. And people with pain of a psychological origin may find their Western physician less sympathetic, because they always have to look out for addicts. Acupuncture, conversely, can treat addiction.

Does Acupuncture Hurt?

Written by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc


I understandrepparttar fear of needles. What most people are familiar with isrepparttar 114747 hypodermic needle of western medicine. They use it to draw blood or inject fluids, so they have to be hollow, and as a result are much bigger than our needles. Ours are solid, and much, much thinner. In fact, they are only about twicerepparttar 114748 thickness of hair. It's probably more accurate to describe them as filaments, but needles arerepparttar 114749 usual word.

When I show them to new patients, and demonstrate how easily you can bend them, they say, "how can you make this go straight?" That's just one ofrepparttar 114750 skills ofrepparttar 114751 acupuncturist we learn in school. I actually was able to get through a leather shoe with a 34 gauge needle without bending it.

Most new patients are amazed how little they feel whenrepparttar 114752 acupuncture needle is inserted. Sometimes they ask, "Did you put it in already?" If you feel anything, there may be a quick sharp sensation as it goes throughrepparttar 114753 skin. Then there will be nothing at all, or a dull spreading sensation. This is call "big qi." That dull spreading sensation isn't painful, but it can be intense depending onrepparttar 114754 situation orrepparttar 114755 needling technique. Some patients are very sensitive, so we don't needle as deeply on them.

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