Shoulder Pain: A Visual Aid on an Acupuncture Treatment

–by Dr. Ana

A line of needles follow the spasm that was causing shoulder pain

Shoulder pain can be chronic or sudden onset.  Either way, very often we have patients who say, “But I don’t think acupuncture can help.”

What prompts them to come anyway?  They thought massage would work; it didn’t. They hoped over-the-counter (OTC) drugs would dull the pain; they didn’t.  They were recommended to physical therapy because it always works; it didn’t.  Desperate, they tried heat; it didn’t work. They tried cold; nope. Dr. recommended prescription medication would surely work; it didn’t.

Desperate for relief, they find themselves at our acupuncture clinic.  They think it probably won’t work but they need to do something, anything.

What they discover is that acupuncture dispels pain!

Karri, 40 yo, came to the clinic pretty freaked out by the shoulder pain that was now radiating down her arm and making her hand numb.

She couldn’t say there was any lifestyle stressor that caused the pain so she was pretty worried about it. Karri worked a normal, not too stressful, 9-5 job that she enjoyed; she wasn’t one to work out hard in the gym; and she didn’t travel a lot.  The one thing, when pressed to tell what she thought related to causing the pain, was that the day before she woke up in pain she had worked straight through a 14 hour day at the computer.

Karri  didn’t know much about acupuncture and she was a bit needle shy.  I used very thin needles in specific acupuncture points and, as you can see in the picture, I also inserted needles along the trail of a muscle spasm.  After one treatment Karri was very excited when she reported 50% pain relief in her shoulder.

A followup treatment two days later resolved the numbness and tingling in her hand and made her an advocate of acupuncture to resolve pain!

We are experts in the use of acupuncture to treat chronic back pain; acupuncture for neck pain; acupuncture to treat infertility; acupuncture for weight loss; acupuncture detox cleansing; cosmetic acupuncture; and Thai massage.  Our Arlington-based Northern Virginia acupuncture clinic has openings every day for new patients.  Contact us today.