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How Do You Spell R–e–l–i–e–f?
Over the last 16 years as an acupuncturist I have treated quite a wide range of conditions but I have to say that the number one condition people come to see me for is pain. Everything from whiplash, which is a pain in the neck to sciatica, which is a pain in the butt. And everything in between. I treat lots of knee pain, back pain, shoulder, arm and wrist pain. Pains in the hands and the feet. Repetitive stress inures. Work related injuries and auto injuries. As well as headaches, migraines and sinus pain.
What is pain?
Pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. It's a signal to get your attention and encourage you to do something about it. Pain can be loosely divided into two categories: chronic and acute. Chronic pain generally means pain that doesn't go away in a reasonable amount of time. It's stubborn. The problem tends to be deep seated. Acute pain can mean either a pain that developed recently or is in a state of flare up.
How do you measure pain?
It is very hard if not impossible to objectively quantify someone's pain. Pain is almost always a subjective phenomenon. You can't measure it in the blood or take an X-ray of someone's pain. An MRI may show a bulging disc belonging to a person who experiences no pain in their spine yet there are people with normal MRIs who have excruciating back pain. Go figure.
What can I do about pain?
Pain is one of the conditions that western medicine has a hard time with. Generally Western medicine is good at masking pain, that is to say covering it up. Aspirin, Tylenol and ibuprofen relieve inflammation and block prostaglandin's which are associated with pain. Anesthetics such as Vicadin and novocain dull or deaden pain which can be a good thing when we have surgery or need a tooth pulled. On the other hand, they can get to be a problem when the pain is chronic and the medications have side effects such as gastric distress or become addictive. What is usually much harder is to eliminate the underlying causes of the pain.
What does Chinese medicine say about pain?
In Chinese medicine pain is considered a blockage or stagnation of energy in the body. Something isn't flowing properly. Imagine a traffic jam in the body where the energy gets congested at rush hour and all the little cars are blowing their horns. That's the pain trying to get our attention. In Chinese medicine we define pain as either Stagnant Qi or Stagnant Blood or a combination of the two. Stagnant Qi tends to be the milder or the two. Stagnant Blood generally refers to pain which is more intense and longer lasting. Acupuncture is one method of stimulating the Qi and Blood of the body and encouraging it to flow. There are Chinese herbs as well that are categorized as Qi and Blood Vitalizers. When you restore the healthy flow of Qi and or Blood the body will heal itself and the pain will go away. Depending on the type of pain and nature of the problem acupuncture and or herbs may be prescribed to treat the underlying source of the problem.
How long should I wait before I seek treatment?
At Kaiser in San Francisco there is a Chronic Pain clinic that offers acupuncture. But in order to receive the acupuncture you have to have tried everything else they offer first. This is not unlike how many of my patients try acupuncture, after everything else has failed. However, what I try to impress upon my patients is that the sooner you try the acupuncture, the more likely you are to have a beneficial outcome. Once a problem has become chronic it generally takes longer to heal. As a colleague once told me, the six most dangerous words in the English language are: "I thought it would go away".
© 2004 Larry Forsberg. All rights reserved.
Articles posted on this Web site are for personal use only and remain the property of Larry Forsberg, L.Ac.
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