JOINT AND SOFT TISSUE PAIN
There are many theories as to how acupuncture helps with pain. The local insertion of needles may release natural pain killers, called endorphins, other theories relate to nerve conduction. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) view is that pain is usually caused by the stagnation (blocked flow) of qi or blood in the channels, but there are other causes. This can occur for various reasons: aging, overuse, injury, climate and other pathogenic factors and underlying internal factors. Freeing this flow, which acupuncture is particularly good at, will result in a reduction or clearing of the pain.
Some common causes of pain in more detail.
1) The most common cause is degenerative change around the joints. This occurs due to aging or overuse. In this case acupuncture may not provide total cure if the joint is badly damaged, but often provides significant relief. In many cases, some level of on-going treatment is required.
2) Injury. Depending on the extent of damage, acupuncture can often help with recovery. Injury can be complicated by underlying degenerative change, which may be part of the cause of the damage, and may well affect the outcome.
3) The climate can have a surprising affect on the body, and in terms of pain, I commonly see patients, especially the elderly, with pain in a joint (usually with underlying wear and tear) due to cold and windy weather. Often the pain is deep and intense and occurred quite rapidly and affects mobility. A stiff, painful neck after sitting in a draft is a good example.
4) Internal Causes:
Damp - leading to chronic swelling of joints. Damp occurs as a result of a failure in the transformation of fluid, commonly related to the Stomach / Spleen or Kidney, but often due to very complex patterns.
Heat or fire. This is usually generated internally or perhaps due to pathogenic invasion, such as a virus. Symptoms are usually red, warm and swollen joints.
Pain as a result of qi, blood stagnation or a pathogen in a channel can be cleared relatively quickly, and those that respond usually show signs of improvement within 4 treatments. Internal causes are more complex and often take longer for significant change and may require lifestyle change.
