Using Acupuncture and Massage to Speed Healing Of Acute, Chronic, and Neuropathic Pain

Pain - oh my goodness....it hurts just to talk about it!

Pain is something that no one likes to feel. It begins as an uncomfortable sensation in the body brought about by a wide range of circumstances from stress, to the labors of childbirth, to overdoing what our body is capable of at that time, to an accident causing injury. Its our body trying to signal to us that something is wrong, something is putting us in danger, a threat to our whole being.

There are three main types of pain. The first being acute pain. It’s like when we cut our finger...one minute we are perfectly fine, the next minute in severe pain. This type of pain can last for a few minutes or if the injury/situation is bad enough, it can last for several months. This is a crucial time for treatment. It sets the stage for the next type of pain. If left untreated or treated in a way that does not resolve the root cause, chronic pain patterns can develop.

Chronic pain is on the rise. With our busy, nose-to-the-grindstone lifestyle we set ourselves up to suffer from chronic pain. We push through the acute pain, because we can’t stop long enough to get it treated properly or do things to mask the acute pain until it accumulates and our bodies present a new pattern to us, one that is constant, one that lingers like an unwelcome guest. Chronic pain is something that is ongoing long after the initial acute injury or cause has healed. This pain affects us on a much deeper level. It taxes the nervous system, affects the emotions, instills in us a fear and begins to slowly shut us down.

An additional type of pain that isn’t often discussed in conjunction with acute and chronic pain is neuropathy. Neuropathy can bring about pain, tingling or numbness in the limbs, muscle weakness, or total loss of sensation at its worst. This occurs when there is prolonged pressure on a nerve or nerves from repetitive motions and also from lack of motion, herniated discs, exposure to toxins, vitamin deficiencies, and complications from disease, such as diabetes, thyroid disease, or Lyme’s disease, resulting in these symptoms. It can affect both the motor nerves and the sensory nerves and can cause conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar nerve compression, and diabetic neuropathy.

What is going on in our body when these types of pains visit us is quite extraordinary. Our bodies have this miraculous system of talking to us, communicating in its own special way, if we only listen. Of course, sometimes our bodies force us to listen whether we want to be aware or not Anyhow, pain itself starts at the cellular level, and almost on an energetic level, if I dare say....The body then goes thru a chemical reaction. Histamines are released causing inflammation in certain parts of the body and a fight or flight response is initiated. Our respirations can become short, our heartbeat quickens, these histamines cause inflammation and a signal to be sent to the spinal cord to the root of the nerve releasing neurotransmitters that communicate with our brain, telling it, “Ouch ” With acupuncture and massage, we go a step further into what this pain response creates other than pain, it creates blockages. It disturbs the balance, the chi flow, the blood, the electrical energy that keeps us healthy.

Most Western Doctors will prescribe pain killers, anti-inflammatories and anti-depressants to treat people with acute and chronic pain which will assist in many cases and provide some relief, however taking prescription medication long term can be harmful to our internal organs. Some will refer people to a specialist for sometimes unnecessary surgeries or prescribe stints of physical therapies. Again, these only assist and provide some relief but don’t treat the body as a whole or get to the root of the issue. Not to discount western medicine’s ability to relieve pain because it has saved many lives and helped many to a degree but when you want to go a step further or a step deeper into making your body whole again and pain free visit the abilities and purposes of acupuncture and massage.

When looking at acupuncture, we know that it is a very ancient form of healing which pre-dates recorded history. Its philosophies of yin and yang, and the balance of life-forces within us, go back over 8000 years and evidence of the use of acupuncture to treat disease has been found in ancient ruins of China from over 4000 years ago and still plays a vital role in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is growing in use around the globe. Its purpose is to correct chi imbalances and unblock the meridians, allowing the chi to flow freely once again in the body restoring the patient to physical health with the use of acupuncture needles and moxibustion. This restores balance in the body and aides the body’s own ability to heal itself.

From a pain relieving aspect, acupuncture aids the body to release its very own pain-reliever, known as endorphins, which has effects similar to morphine. This is achieved by relieving pressure on the nerve where the acupuncture needle is placed, the muscle relaxes, the blood begins to flow into that area, and pain is released partially through the muscle itself and partially through the nervous system releasing endorphins and encephalins. Encephalins are what counter-balance the histamines that are released in the pain response discussed earlier. These natural anti-inflammatory compounds and painkillers released into the body help the healing process in joints and muscles and aid recovery by boosting the immune system and the body’s ability to heal itself, thus, restoring yin and yang balance.

Turning to Massage therapy and it’s practice, we find that it is also one of the oldest health care practices known to history. References to massage are found in Chinese medical texts more than 4,000 years old. In the West, massage has been advocated since the time of Hippocrates. In fourth century B.C. Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” wrote, "The physician must be acquainted with many things and assuredly with rubbing.”

Massage therapy’s objective is to restore homeostasis of the mind, body, and spirit, which enhances the function of these and promotes well-being and enhances the body’s ability to heal itself through manual manipulation of soft tissue. It affects the circulation of blood and lymph, reduces muscular tension or flaccidity, affects the nervous system through stimulation or sedation, and enhances tissue repair. These effects provide a number of healing benefits.

From a pain relieving aspect, massage aides in the reduction of muscle spasm, tension, and inflammation brought about by acute pain by also releasing endorphins. It promotes faster healing of soft tissue injuries, chronic pain, and neuralgia by increasing and providing greater circulation to the affected area, reduction in swelling, increasing nutrients to the site, cleansing of toxin accumulations, and reduction of scar tissue build-up. Also, a great chronic pain relief is to allow massage to create greater flexibility and range of motion, thus re-teaching the body, refocusing the muscle memory to a state pre-pain, and therefore easing emotional distress that often maintains a chronic pain cycle. It also eases the sympathetic nervous system, taking it out of the fight-or-flight/high anxiety state and back into a more normalized state of well-being where relaxation and pain relief can occur and brings us back to a more positive mental awareness. With diabetic neuralgia patients, not only is the increased circulation a relief but also for the skin nourishment provided for the painful dryness and cracking of the skin. Massage also increases the awareness of the body, realigning and reconnecting energetic pathways, almost like defragmenting a computer, where pain has blocked and moved the data of our body around to a slower, less efficient output, massage puts things back in alignments so that the body’s performance is boosted.

How is combining the two, acupuncture and massage, of added benefit to the patient? By having this larger support system of alternative and complimentary healthcare providers gives a greater sense of control over your own body, your own care, your own healing. By utilizing acupuncture and massage therapy together, it immensely reduces healing time, cutting reduction and recovery from pain by more than half. Most Acupuncturists and Massage Therapists are trained in multiple alternative healing modalities that have been proven to assist in healing pain such as: Acupuncture, Acupressure, Breathing techniques, Cupping, Meditation, NMT-Trigger Point Therapy, Reflexology following TCM related points for ear, hand, and feet, Reiki, Shiatsu, Tong Ren, Tui Na, Qi Gong, and Healing Herbs applied to the body in oils, supplements or taken as herbal tea infusion. Also knowing that these two systems of healing have been around long before modern medicine and are still in use today and often in use together as in TCM is a great sign and confidence. By working both with acupuncture and massage, the two treatment systems compliment each other, and create an amazing alliance of health restoration and healing like no other two combinations available in modern complimentary and alternative medicine today.