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Pain

Musculoskeletal pain can be acute or chronic and can involve varying degrees of pain, stiffness, swelling, numbness, decreased range of motion as well as sensations of numbness and tingling. It affects joints, muscles, tendons, bursae and bones. Common complaints from my Scottsdale and Paradise Valley patients are neck and shoulder pain, low back pain, elbow and wrist pain, hip, knee and foot pain. Acupuncture is proven to resolve pain, often without medications or medical procedures.

According to CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, “In 2023, “24.3% of adults had chronic pain, and 8.5% of adults had chronic pain that frequently limited life or work activities (referred to as high-impact chronic pain) in the past 3 months.

Acute musculoskeletal pain from injury, strain or overuse can be treated as a localized condition with combination of acupuncture, trigger point (dry) needling, gua sha (scraping) and cupping. Chronic or repetitive injury cases have a root cause that must be addressed for sustained pain relief and injury healing and prevention.

"I've lived with anxiety and depression for many years. It's difficult to feel motivated, even to do the things I love. I also have Fibromyalgia which exacerbates the problem causing aches, foggy head and fatigue. There are times when I can't get out of bed. I've tried many anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications, but still didn’t feel as good as I know I could. I was skeptical that acupuncture would help. After my first treatment, I felt relaxed and less anxious. After several weeks of treatment, I am sleeping better, have more energy and I'm now working. Acupuncture has made a big difference in my life. Linda has been a great help to me, making me feel relaxed and comfortable to receive treatment. I look forward to continued treatments and starting herbs." -F.E.

In Chinese medicine, pain is the result of qi and blood stagnation or blockage, which can be local, systemic or both. Stagnation caused by trauma or pathogenic invasion can be treated locally but often there are underlying systemic causes of qi and blood stagnation that also need to be treated. These could be qi deficiency, channel obstructions, dampness, and internal cold or heat that’s impacting the movement of qi and blood. A purely internal pathology causing pain will not resolve with a local treatment that staves of pain temporarily. The pain will not resolve or will return.

A common example is neck and shoulder pain. It can be from injury, poor posture, overuse, scaring or sleeping position, which would indicate a local problem that can be alleviated with proper ergonomics and trigger point acupuncture. Often, however, there is also stress, emotional issues, chronic fatigue or deficiency causing the muscles to tighten and inhibit the flow of qi and blood to the tissue. The pain tends to be dull, aching and chronic with varying degrees of intensity. Acupuncture from a trained acupuncturist can treat the underlying causes as well as the local aspects of pain.

Another common condition is low back pain. It’s usually considered a structural misalignment or soft tissue injury with evidence pointing in that direction. Most often, the Kidney organ system is also deficient and sometimes the bladder, reproductive organs are also involved. All aspects of the condition must be treated to get optimal results.

In my office, I apply various methods of acupuncture and adjunct treatments depending on what the patient needs and how they respond to treatment. Being able to vary treatments between traditional acupuncture, balance method, electroacupuncture, trigger point needling, as well as cupping, gua sha and massage provides fast and lasting results.

In pain anywhere in your body? Call for a free consultation and start feeling better today.