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Understanding Low Back Pain & Acupuncture

If you are struggling with low back pain and are curious about how acupuncture can help, this article should help. The intention of this article is to help you in understanding low back pain and acupuncture and why acupuncture is your best option for treating low back pain.

There is A Lot of Back Pain in the World

Let’s talk about low back pain and acupuncture and how it heals the root cause of low back pain. Chronic back pain is one of the most common reasons people seek medical attention in the United States.

Millions of work days and hours of activity are lost due to low back pain each year. It’s estimated that nearly 80% of the people in the United States will be affected by back pain sometime in their life. So it’s a pretty big deal.

The 3 Most Common Causes of Back Pain

There are many different root causes of back pain in acupuncture theory. And we have to treat them all differently. So, let’s talk about the 3 most common types of back pain that I see in my practice, their root cause and what we would do, as an acupuncturist, to correct the problem.

Qi Stagnation

QI stagnation causes the first type of back pain. Remember, Qi is the healing power of the body and its unrestricted flow is essential for the health of the back.

A garden hose would be a good representation of this type of back pain. The channel that runs through the back would be the garden hose and the water running in the hose would be the qi. Imagine the hose having a kink in it and the water (or qi) would be unable to get to the back. Pain would be the result.

The qi, the healing power of the body, simply cannot get to that area of the back and that creates pain. This type of pain would be treated by acupuncture needles placed in the body to open up the kinks in the hose and getting the qi to flow through the back where the pain is located. The pain will go away when this is accomplished.

Kidney Deficiency

Kidney deficiency causes the second most common type of back pain.

In acupuncture theory, the kidney and bladder meridians govern the back. When there is a deficiency in the kidney, this may create a negative effect on the the body resulting in weakness, stiffness and/or pain in the back.

The analogy of the garden hose would work in this case too. The hose would represent the kidney channel that flows through the back and the water this time would represent the strength of the kidney or the pressure of the water. Instead of the qi being blocked as in qi stagnation, the amount of water would be very small – a tiny trickle inside of the hose.

This would represent a deficiency of energy available to strengthen the back. The treatment involve increasing the energy of the kidney channel in order to support the back and eliminating the pain.

Blood Stagnation

Blood stagnation in the lower back causes the 3rd type of back pain.

This is a severe form of stabbing pain in the lower back upon movement or rest. his can be the result of blood stagnation in the lower back. This is usually a result of long-term qi stagnation which eventually causes the flow of blood in the affected area to become blocked. Not only is the qi blocked but the blood is blocked also. Since qi is also responsible for the movement of blood in the body, the longer that qi stagnation occurs, the more likely blood stagnation will take place.

Blood stagnation in the lower back is probably the most painful of any type of back pain.

It may present itself as a result of physical issues such as injury due to a trauma, over exposure to the environment, overwork, or emotional issues such as long-term stress. Treatment would include simply moving the blood and qi. The pain will dissipate when this is accomplished.

Low Back Pain and Acupuncture Success Rate

Most of the patients that we see suffering with back pain have tried many different modalities without much success.

Most, probably 90%, respond to acupuncture treatments very well and see a difference in their pain levels fairly quickly. Remember that each patient is unique.

The length of treatment needed will vary with each person. This is because of the length of time the problem has been with them, their age, their individual speed of healing, as well as the location and severity of their injury.

Patient Experiences

Here’s a quick story of a client who had an amazing outcome with a severe bout of back pain:

I had a patient who had been struggling with pretty severe back pain for a couple of years. He had tried many different methods of dealing with the pain including physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments and steroid injections. His M.D. had started the conversation about surgery. His frustration led him to decide to try acupuncture as a last resort. After spending some time with him figuring out what the root cause of the back pain was, we started treatment. About halfway through his first treatment he realized that his back pain had been reduced by 50% . Things progressed fairly quickly and in a couple of months he was free from pain. He was thrilled with the results and makes it a point to come in once a month as a part of his self care routine.

Low Back Pain and Acupuncture Popularity

The use of acupuncture to treat back pain has increased dramatically in the past few years. This is largely due to word-of-mouth success stories from patients who have tried acupuncture. Remember, acupuncture works to restore the harmony and energetic balance in the body. This stimulates the body’s own natural healing ability. In the hands of a skilled acupuncturist, acupuncture can be a great way of eliminating back pain.

Do You Need help?

So if you feel like we could help you, here’s what you should do next:

Visit our website at www.energetichealth.net and get our free mini book so you can get a clear overview of our process to see if we can help you.

Then call our office at 435-359-1479 – Amy will answer your call and I guarantee you will enjoy talking to her.

Kurt Redmond
Energetic Health Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine
435-359-1479
Acupuncture St. George, Utah
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The Sciatic Nerve is the largest nerve in the body.

It consists of a large bundle of small nerves that begin in the lumbar spine, travels down the buttocks and moves through the leg. Radiating pain is one of the more common and intense symptoms associated with sciatica with numbness and tingling starting in the lower back and radiating down the leg all the way to the foot.

Sciatica occurs when a muscle, a spinal disc, and sometimes even the spine itself pushes on the sciatic nerve.

A spinal disc herniation, often referred to as a slipped disc, occurs when a small portion of the spinal disc bulges out of the spinal column. The disc then pushes on the sciatic nerve causing pain. Spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the spinal canal, could also push on the nerve and cause pain. Muscle spasms can also cause sciatica. Most of the time it is the piriformis muscle, but occasionally it can be other muscles in the lower back and pelvic region, that pushes on the sciatic nerve causing pain.

Physical therapy and rehabilitation, including exercises to help your posture and strengthen your muscles, is one Western method that is effective. Prescription drugs such as anti-inflammatory medication, muscle relaxants, narcotics, antidepressants and anticonvulsant drugs are also used. Injections or surgery are other possible options, though often recommended as a “last resort”.

Acupuncture Theory holds the view that sciatica is caused by blockages of Qi and blood in the back channels. This blockage causes imbalances in the body that expresses itself as pain and a burning sensation along several channels on the lower back and down the leg. Unlike many Western methods of treating sciatica, which treats the symptoms or masks the condition, acupuncture corrects the root of the problem by eliminating those blockages and encouraging self-healing of the body.

Sciatica is always a result of the inability of the bodies healing energy to flow into the back, which can lead to inflammation and degeneration.

Some common imbalances involved in sciatica are:

Kidney Qi deficiency, which involves your back feeling very weak and not getting better, even with a lot of rest.
Spleen Qi deficiency with dampness, which involves fatigue, weakness and heaviness though the back does feel better with rest.
Liver Qi stagnation, which involves muscles that are very tight and in spasm, particularly when you become angry, frustrated or have a lot of stress in your life.

Acupuncture treatments will correct the imbalances listed above and allow the healing power of the body to flow through the areas of pain. In essence, this allows the body to heal itself.

There are many natural remedies that may help sciatica including cold packs and/or hot packs. Stretching exercises for your low back may help relieve nerve root compression, and over-the-counter medications may help to reduce pain and inflammation. Regular exercise such as water aerobics or other low-impact exercises may help strengthen the core stability and limit the effects of the problem.

We have had many patients with sciatic pain come to our clinic.

One patient came in with excruciating pain. Unable to sleep and in intense pain 24 hours a day, he stated that he had tried everything to get rid of it. With the correct placement of needles, his pain was reduced by 50% during his first treatment. By the end of the seventh treatment he had no more pain and felt great. While not everyone has this quick of a response, most people receive relief after a few treatments.

Acupuncture is a gentle treatment that is very effective in treating sciatic pain.

It is relaxing, restorative and balancing. Allowing the foundational energy of the body to flow freely and easily, acupuncture allows the healing power of the body to eliminate pain and correct the root of the problem. Acupuncture is a very safe and natural option for sciatic pain.

Kurt Redmond
Acupuncturist St. George
Vision Acupuncture Specialist
435.359.1479
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Low Back Pain & Acupuncture