Douleurs musculo-squelettiques
Are you suffering from tendinitis, arthrosis, arthritis and joint and muscle pain? Acupuncture, a great complement to manipulative therapy, will quickly ease your symptoms.
Why choose acupuncture? It can target bones, tendons, joints and muscles, but more importantly, it can help the body through its healing process, since not all pain is traumatic in origin.
Since 2009, thanks to pain neurophysiology and safe deep puncture training, I can treat myofascial pain by combining century-old and modern techniques:
- Mapping of the tendinomuscular meridians and puncture of the “ASHI” points (sensitive points, like pressing on a bruise).
- • Referred myofascial pain pathways and puncture of the “trigger points” mapped and published by Dr. Travell and Dr. Simons in 1983.
These sensitive points can be located by palpation or from a distance and are often the cause of referred pain. Those unfamiliar with these pathways can often miss their mark by only targeting pain locally.
Here are some ways I use acupuncture to treat myofascial and joint pain, or tendinitis
- Deactivate, with the needle, dysfunctional neuromuscular junctions (trigger points) to loosen the muscle through spasm or tissue microlesion that stimulates the healing process.
- Communicate with the central nervous system and address the perception of pain through acupuncture points (an acupuncturist-reserved act in Quebec), which are known to trigger anti-inflammatory processes (circulate the Qi and Blood and evacuate Hot and Cold Damp).
- • Use an electrical stimulator (TENS) on a needle to boost the analgesic effect.
- • Unblock joint tensions from a distance using Dr. Tan’s Global Balance method (invigorate the Kidney Qi and reactivate the Qi and Blood).
- • Help nutrient absorption (invigorate the Spleen-Stomach Qi) and direct nutritive blood to muscles and tendons (invigorate the Liver Blood).
- • Release muscle and tendon tensions by warming up the meridians using moxibustion (invigorate the Yang or chase away the Cold).
- • Loosen muscle knots locally with a suction cups or Gua Sha (reactive the Qi and Blood) and help the flow of new blood into the affected area (nourish the Jing Luo).
- • Explain how food or packs at an appropriate temperature can help with thermoregulation.
Chinese medicine makes an important distinction between cold and hot inflammation (Cold or Hot Damp), for example with arthrosis and arthritis, which helps avoid some of the pitfalls of chronic pain. I wrote an article and a chart on the matter, which makes observation and patient education key elements of the treatment.
So don’t wait for other physical therapies to reach their limit: let acupuncture potentiate them. It can prepare your muscles (pretreatment) or reduce painful inflammation (post-treatment). Collaboration with other professionals can often make you avoid chronic pain, repeated infiltration and even surgery.
Nancy Mongrain, Ac. 2022
Other links:
https://gera.fr/acupuncture-bases-neuroanatomiques/