Pain is the leading cause of patient’s seeking help from healthcare providers. Whether it be an acute injury from sports, a car accident, or nagging chronic inflammatory pain that worsens every year, many patients are referred to us specifically for pain management. Fortunately, we have found treating pain to be extremely gratifying. Simply put, we like seeing results! Our clinical experience along with an increasing amount of research studies have proven that Acupuncture is an excellent complement to physical rehabilitation for both orthopedic sports injuries and lingering chronic pain. At Whole Roots Health, we combine acupuncture with orthopedic bodywork, herbal medicine, and nutrition geared to reduce inflammation. This integrative and comprehensive approach allows patients to both see and feel results quickly.
Over 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from chronic pain.1 Nearly one third of American adults experience chronic pain,2 and almost one in five surveyed Europeans indicated they have moderate or severe chronic pain.3 The three most common sources of chronic pain are low back pain (29%), neck pain (16%), and severe headache or migraine pain (15%).4
Acute Injuries
Acute pain warns you that you have been hurt. It starts suddenly, and when the injury heals, the pain stops. In acute injury, the pain is due to pressure from inflammation in the tissues and nerves at the site of the injury. This inflammation leads to the swelling that is observable and is part of the body’s healing response. Acute injuries are one of the conditions that Acupuncture is best known for and treatment is fairly straight forward. Acupuncture has been proven to decrease pain perception and inflammation, as well as promote vascular circulation to the affected tissues. This in turn accelerates healing by removing metabolic wastes and bringing in necessary nutrients to the affected area. In addition, Acupuncture can help improve physical performance, mitigate the effects of over training, and prevent future injuries.
Trigger Point / Dry Needling Acupuncture
Trigger Point Acupuncture, now commonly referred to as Dry Needling, focuses on the myofascial system. The myofascial system is the web of connective tissue that spreads throughout the body and surrounds every muscle, bone, nerve blood vessel, and organ to the cellular level. When pain is caused by myofascial tightness within the fascial system it can play a significant role in creating pain and malfunction in the structure of the spine, extremities and organs. Acupuncture needles are inserted directly into points of muscle tightness and/or tenderness (AKA trigger points), to immediately create a twitch reflex in the muscle forcing it to release and relieve pain. Trigger Point Acupuncture is highly effective at reducing muscle tension, strain, and pain due to poor posture, trauma, and stress.
Chronic Pain
Different methods are used for treating Chronic Pain than I would apply for an acute injury. Many patients come to me with recurring chronic pain that they have had for over 20 years, but can not remember how it started. Others have lingering pain from a past surgery. And others yet notice that their stubborn back or neck pain worsens when stressed, in the cold weather, or when they eat certain foods. Most lingering pain and degenerative diseases can be attributed to several factors including an old injury that hasn’t healed properly, emotional holding patterns, hormonal imbalance, diet/lifestyle choices creating a chronic inflammatory state, poor posture and gait, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Discovering the root cause of the chronic pain is essential for maintaining long-term pain free results. Along with structural based Acupuncture treatments, incorporating lifestyle changes such as diet, proper posture, and herbal medicine are an important aspect to overcoming chronic pain.
Drugs are NOT the answer!
Drugs are often prescribed to deal with a patient’s pain as a first line treatment.
Yet only 23% of patients with chronic pain found opiates effective, according to a 2006 survey by the American Pain Foundation and a recent review found that opioids at guideline recommended doses were not effective for low back pain.5
The first randomized study to ever evaluate the long-term effectiveness of opioid for pain relief found that those taking opioids were actually in more pain at 12-months compared to those who were on non-opioid pain relief.6
Opiate abuse and depression have become common in the pain equation and in the United States, and prescription opiates result in more deaths due to overdose than heroin.7
An estimated two million individuals in the United States are addicted to prescription opioids, resulting in an economic cost of $78.5 billion USD annually.8
Millions of Americans are burdened with pain, feeling as though the only answer is to turn to pharmaceuticals for relief. Masking symptoms with drugs may fix the problem temporarily, but ultimately the real issue is not being resolved and long-term pharmaceutical use can damage internal organ systems and lead to dependence. You have other options. Give our team a call to discuss how we can help get you out of pain and increase your quality of life.
References
- National Center for Health Statistics (2006) Health, United States, 2006 Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus06.pdf.
- Johannes, C. B., Le, T. K., Zhou, X., Johnston, J. A., & Dworkin, R. H. (2010). The prevalence of chronic pain in United States adults: results of an Internet-based survey. The Journal of Pain : Official Journal of the American Pain Society, 11(11), 1230–1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2010.07.002.
- Breivik H, Collett B, Ventafridda V, Cohen R, Gallacher D. Survey of chronic pain in Europe: prevalence, impact on daily life, and treatment. Eur J Pain. 2006;13:287–333. doi: 10.1016/j.ejpain.2005.06.009.
- National Center for Health Statistics (US. “Health, United States, 2016: with chartbook on Long-term trends in health. Hyattsville, MD. 2017.”8. The CHP Group (2014) The Cost of Chronic Pain:How Complementary and Alternative Medicine Can Provide Relief. Available from: https://www.chpgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/CHP-WP_CAM-Chronic-Pain_Sls_12.12.2014.pdf.
- Abdel Shaheed, C., Maher, C. G., Williams, K. A., Day, R., & McLachlan, A. J. (2016). Efficacy, Tolerability, and Dose-Dependent Effects of Opioid Analgesics for Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(7), 958–968. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.1251.
- Krebs EE. Effectiveness of opioid therapy vs. non-opioid medication therapy for chronic back & osteoarthritis pain over 12 months. In annual meeting, Society for General Internal Medicine, Washington DC 2017.
- Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L. Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:1445–1452. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm655051e1.
- Schuchat, A., Houry, D., & Guy, G. P. (2017). New Data on Opioid Use and Prescribing in the United States. Jama, 318(5), 425–426. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.8913.