Sports Acupuncture provides a unique way to address different muscular-skeletal problems. Whether you are experiencing pain or have an injury resulting from extensive training, overuse or a simple mishap - a sports acupuncturist can take care of the problem using methods different from the traditional Western therapies. Treatments are effective, relaxing and frequently produce immediate results - a combination that will get you back into your game pain free and full of energy.
Acupuncture is one of the quickest ways to restore muscle balance. The most common injuries are often a result of an imbalance – when this is not treated appropriately it can sometimes lead to more chronic pain and imbalance. (read more…)
Chinese medicine offers a unique perspective on maintaining a state of harmonious balance in the human body and thus has great techniques to treat sports injuries, relieve your aches and pains, enhance performance, speed up your injury recovery and maintain optimal function. Treatments are focused not only on dispelling illness but also on harmonizing and nurturing the Qi of patients.
Western medicine works wonderfully to stop inflammation and stop the pain – but this can have draw backs. By masking the pain this way, further damage is often done. Chinese medicine employs methods that are not injurious to the patient by attempting to harmonize the body’s natural functions and stimulate its innate ability to heal. These methods are not mystical or esoteric; they are based on a common sense approach to diagnosis and treatment.
I employ several techniques for sports injuries, arthritis, pains etc… Some of the ones I have found most effect include the follow: (Note – as always in treating the condition it is vital to treat you constitutionally – it is the best method for strengthening your body’s ability to heal and be healthy.)
I have studied with Dr. Tan, who is famous now for his distal point balancing method. This method treats the mysterious and stubborn, contemporary syndromes as well as acute and chronic pain conditions with instantaneous results by using the elements of yin/yang theory and the I-Ching/BaGua form the foundation for the acupuncture
The Balance method is comprised of more than ten separate but interrelated systems of acupuncture channel theory. Five systems constitute the “core” systems of the method. While each system is distinct from the others, all of them for the most part can be used interchangeably in the treatment of a particular condition. This interchangeability of systems allows the practitioner using the Balance method a greater degree of clinical flexibility in treatment plans.
The Balance method emphasizes the importance of palpation and ahshi or tender point findings when locating distal points for treatment.
In deciding where to look for possible appropriate points, the Balance method frequently makes use of the concept of “Anatomical Image”. This concept can be represented in part by the traditional “Liu Ho,” or Six Harmonies of classical Chinese anatomy:
- the wrist corresponds to the ankle,
- the knee to the elbow,
- the shoulder to the hip.
With any of the Balance method systems, a rapid positive clinical effect is very likely. It is not unusual for patients to report near-instant improvements in symptoms of pain, numbness, diminished range of motion, etc…with this kind of treatment. Regardless of how rapidly the onset of symptom relief may be, treatments with the Balance method should be from 45 minutes to 1 hour in length. By leaving the needles in place for this amount of time, the channel balancing effect is strengthened.
Depending upon several variables, the symptom treated may begin to reassert itself at some time following the treatment. It is important to administer treatments at a frequency rate such that the patient receives subsequent treatment before the symptom or symptoms reassert themselves to the full degree that they presented with prior to the initial treatment session. In this way the clinician can stay ahead of the condition, and each subsequent treatment should be followed by a diminishing return of the original symptom. Initially, treatments are often spaced only a few days apart, with patients sometimes receiving treatment two to three times per week in the beginning. Treatment frequency can be reduced as the symptoms or condition improves and stabilizes.
Western medicine works wonderfully to stop inflammation and stop the pain – but this can have draw backs. By masking the pain this way, further damage is often done. Chinese medicine employs methods that are not injurious to the patient by attempting to harmonize the body’s natural functions and stimulate its innate ability to heal. These methods are not mystical or esoteric; they are based on a common sense approach to diagnosis and treatment.
