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Anyone have experience with acupuncture?

Discussion in 'General' started by OGs750, Jul 18, 2018.

  1. OGs750

    OGs750 Well-Known Member

    Due to sports and multiple motorcycle related incidents, my right shoulder and right side of my neck have nagging pain. Previous doctors have said that the two are related and the neck pain is due it compensating for the lack of strength in the right shoulder. I've done PT with limited results and no one has yet been able to pin point the exact problem. Neither are show stoppers so I've dealt with them both for many years.

    The shoulder has been giving me more problems lately, so I went to a new Dr to get an opinion. Again he can't pin point what the issue is and has me scheduled for an MRI anthrogram to get a better view on the area, but even with the different modality there may not be much that can be done. He said that certain injuries are too minor to force surgery and won't necessarily respond to additional PT.

    I asked what can be done and he mentioned acupuncture as one possible route to take. Does anyone have any experience with acupuncture? Did you see results? If so, how many sessions did it take to see those results?
     
  2. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    I have poked myself with innumerable sharp objects but never in the right place evidently as they all caused pain rather than relieve it.
     
    badmoon692008 likes this.
  3. cha0s#242

    cha0s#242 Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand

    I see what you did there :D

    Seriously, give it a shot. I had a nerve stuck in my neck from a fall I had skiing. Saw a chiropractor who also did acupuncture and it helped a lot. I don't know the specifics of how it actually works, but the next day after getting acupuncture, you feel very slow/groggy. So it must do something. Anyways, it worked very well for me in this case.
     
  4. Dave K

    Dave K DaveK über alles!

    I had it done once way back and it might have done something I guess.
     
  5. I have something similar where my right shoulder hangs over an inch too low so my trap was compensating to bring my shoulder back up and that ended up pinching a nerve cluster at my c7 which made the whole inside of my right arm go numb down to my pinky/ring finger sometimes. A lot of fun hanging off a boom lift 20 feet in the air trying to weld shit. Made working extremely fun. I did some PT to fix the numbness but now my officially shoulder needs reconstruction because I can’t have it both ways.

    I’ve had acupuncture and cupping(I think that’s what it’s called where they light the inside of a little bowl on fire and put it on you) done before on my back. It helps to an extent but it needs to be done fairly consistently or at least it did in my case. So I gave it up. I’ve been talking about going back to one but I’m not sold. It just seems like a temporary bandaid to my actual injuries.
     
  6. dsapsis

    dsapsis El Jefe de los Monos

    Just like western medicine, quality of care varies. Acupuncture worked very well for me when I was younger and dealing with chronic lower back pain and general GI distress. A good friend who is classically trained in chi treated both successfully with herbs and pins. Presuming you are in a locale with multiple docs, research thier background and give it a try.
     
  7. tito

    tito Well-Known Member

    I 2nd the chiropractor and also would like to add finding a good massage therapist. My wife is a sign language interpreter and after 3 or 4 people found a great massage therapist that does wonders on her hands. but like others said do you research, in these fields there are a lot of "certified" people that have no clue as to what they are actually doing.
     
  8. sdg

    sdg *

    Yes, and it is amazing. However, I've only been to the one... He is a Chinese immigrant and absolutely the real deal.
     
  9. Banditracer

    Banditracer Dogs - because people suck

    :stupid: I'm a big believer in this. My back had hurt for years, lower back pain, muscles all knotted up. Started going to a good massage girl and after the second week I realized my back felt better than it had in years. I go every week now, I'm hooked. She's like crack for my back. :D
    Gave my wife a half dozen gift certificates for xmas a couple years ago and she got hooked. She goes every week too.
     
    Phl218 likes this.
  10. Rebel635

    Rebel635 Well-Known Member

    I had neck and trappezius muscle pains that had literally brought me to tears. Pain so bad and no comfortable position that I slept for a few hours every night. In addition to twitching arm muscles and numbness all pointed to a pinched nerve.
    This went on for 2 months. Finally saw a massage therapist who located a bunch of trigger points by my should blade and after one treatments I felt much better, 2 weeks later and two treatments I was 90%

    I can feel that trappezius tightening up now and can self relieve by using a sharp wall edge to dig into the trigger point.

    Give it a try.
     
  11. DrA5

    DrA5 The OTHER Great Dane

    I have had acupuncture, and then dry-needling by a PT. Both helped. I think the dry needling did more, but I definitely saw some benefit post acupuncture sessions. But like massage therapy, I think the benefits lasted a few days. With time, and natural progression of healing, the situation gradually went away. I think the acupuncture just gave it a push in the right direction and it resolved a bit faster as a result.

    Also check out Eldoa stretching.
     
  12. Jed

    Jed mellifluous

    Tried it. Didn't work. Tried PT. Didn't work. Found a person who specialized in trigger point massage. It worked. My shoulder was pulled forward a bit from scar tissue on my collar bone. Result was my scapula muscles on that side pulled harder than they should and resulted in a nagging pain. She started working the scapula and wasn't satisfied it was the issue. Got to my rotator are and started feeling lots of trigger point. When she got to my collar bone she had an "Ah Ha!" moment and proceeded to put me in serious pain working the tissue that was too tight. Two sessions with her fixed it. Front and back muscles were no longer in constant tension with each other.
     
  13. OGs750

    OGs750 Well-Known Member

    I was waiting for this response. There are two prominent offices in the area. One staffs a Dr Yong Cui and Peichen Chu, while the other has Kristen Horner Warren. Guess which one I'm leaning towards. :crackup:
     
  14. Mongo

    Mongo Administrator

    I think massage is what makes a lot of the other things seem like they work.
     
  15. OGs750

    OGs750 Well-Known Member

    Lots of recommendations for message. Last fall I did a 5-6 messages in a 4 week period and while they helped, they really didn't fix the prevailing issues. More than anything they informed me on how to stretch the areas to mitigate any pain I'm having.

    :stupid: I want to address the root cause and heal the injury rather than masking the symptoms and getting roped into regular visits in order to feel better.
     
  16. cha0s#242

    cha0s#242 Ignorance and prejudice and fear walk hand in hand

    There is not a lot a good rub & tug won't fix :D
     
    Phl218 likes this.
  17. Shenanigans

    Shenanigans in Mr.Rogers neighborhood

    My massage therapist rocks
     
  18. K51000

    K51000 Well-Known Member

    Get the MRI.

    Have it read by someone who knows how to identify nerve impingement at the lamina/foramen levels.

    If there, have it fixed with a laminectomy or a foraminectomy, or both.

    Been there, done that

    once cervical- Lt C8 only- TOTALLY fixed the whole problem in my Left arm/shoulder blade area- overnight- BAAM!
    once Lumbar- L3 laminectomy bilateral, Rt sided L4 and L5 foraminectomies- Again- fixed all the Rt leg pain, radiculopathy- overnight- BAAM

    I am SOOO happy I didn't listen to the naysayers- DIDN'T do a Chiropracter, etc.

    YMMV
     
  19. Dave K

    Dave K DaveK über alles!

    In the case where I tried getting stabbed with needles, the little, unattractive japanese woman who tourtured the f@ck out of me with that deep tissue/ joint manipulation "massage" was what worked.
    Once I stopped screaming in total pain 10 minutes after she was done, I could move again.
     

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