acupuncture

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Grnhouse
Grnhouse Posts: 254 Member
Considering trying to relieve pain in my shoulder. Has anyone used it and if so how much did it help?

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  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
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    The studies aren't favorable.
    Have you had it diagnosed by a medical professional? What's the cause of the pain? :+1:
  • Grnhouse
    Grnhouse Posts: 254 Member
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    shoulder bursitis @Cherimoose.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    i had it done once as a bottom-of-barrel thing for whiplash. could be i'm just too incurably western for chi, or just that single practitioner. but it made me feel weird and awful in ways i'd never run into before or since. i decided it wasn't for me.

    fwiw, cortisone shot helped me a lot when i had shoulder bursitis one year. responsible doctors try to limit putting cortisone into actual joints because it's not actually all that great for the cartilage. but according to my rheumatologist, bursa are a different story.
  • Old_Cat_Lady
    Old_Cat_Lady Posts: 1,193 Member
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    Surgery on it is not an option? I have a boss that had it done. He said took almost a year to feel completely healed, but pain is gone.
  • komondorgirl
    komondorgirl Posts: 2 Member
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    Take a look at the research on acupuncture. It simply does not support efficacy. The blog Science Based Medicine has numerous articles about the treatment and links to research studies that back that up. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/category/acupuncture/
  • skonger
    skonger Posts: 26 Member
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    I have nerve damage from three surgeries on my once crushed ankle. I've been doing physio for a year now and part of my rehab was acupuncture to stimulate my nerves and get my toes moving. It did seem to help, I got more movement in my toes and then it reached a plateau I felt where it no longer was doing anything. So I told them I didn't want it anymore and now we're trying Russian stimulation/BMAC to get my peroneal nerve firing better.

    There is also debate on Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and whether that helps with pain. I think most agree it can give temporary relief.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
    edited August 2017
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    When my wife was suffering severely from a degenerate disk in her neck, I've observed her pain vanish while the acupuncture needles were sticking in her scalp and various other points of her body. It was an amazing thing to see. Of course, upon the completion of the session, the needles were removed and the pain returned, full force. The acupuncture was a waste of money.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
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    I have not had acupuncture, but I had dry needle therapy on my hamstrings for tendinitis. Apparently the principles behind the two treatments are pretty different from each other, but the needles are the same. Dry needling is supposed to stimulate trigger points in your muscles to promote healing. I found it to be a temporary (day or two) solution to a chronic problem. Warning: Photo with needles below.a38ynt9pukh2.jpg
  • ISweat4This
    ISweat4This Posts: 653 Member
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    I had it done for tennis elbow, the pain went away for a day.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
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    Dry needles and chiropractic for neck & back prob. The dry needles were amazing because the somehow allowed me to relax all the muscles that had knotted up to cause my chronic pain. The relief seemed to last a few days and allowed me to exercise these muscles - eventually banishing the pain entirely. Was it a placebo effect? Maybe so, but I couldn't wait for those appointments because I felt so much relief from the pain and tight knotty muscles.

    Swimming now to avoid repetition of problem.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    I've been doing to for 4 weeks on my should and lower back. Nothing.
  • Grnhouse
    Grnhouse Posts: 254 Member
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    Thxs all for your help.