I have many patients come in with different types of pain: injuries that haven’t healed well, headaches/migraines, arthritis, nerve pain, menstrual, etc. Their pain can be acute or chronic.
In most cases, Chinese medicine views pain as a place where Qi (energy) has become stuck, or where the flow has become diminished. It's my job to determine where the pain is coming from, and treat it accordingly.
Alongside acupuncture, there are many wonderful tools that I use. These include cupping, gua sha (a gentle smooth-edged tool is used with oil to scrape, push and pull skin; it is particularly good at breaking up scar tissue which may be present), heat, liniment, electric stimulation (EMS), etc.
Besides treating the affected area, the intake diagnosis shows me if -and where -there are underlying conditions. When these imbalances are corrected, the body heals better, and greatly reduces the chance of the pain coming back.
Another issue I watch for is retained trauma. Since the body remembers any trauma, it is sometimes reluctant, or unable, to let go of the stress. After a car accident, for example, a person might feel like they’ve moved on, but are still feeling stress and pain that just won’t heal. There are acupuncture treatments that encourage the body to let go of this emotional baggage, as well as the tension/pain it's been causing.
Relieving someone of their pain is so rewarding for me as a practitioner. Chinese Medicine is wonderful in that it doesn’t leave behind the person, which it sometimes feels like in western medicine. It treats each individual as unique, which is why it's so effective for so many things.
-Vonalee
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