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I am presently getting acupuncture and it
seems to be helping somewhat. My question is why it is so
painful. Everything I read says that acupuncture is not
painful but for me it is. Please advise.
Thank you!
Leah
(F) 47,
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Dear Leah:
Acupuncture treatment for any symptom,
including musculoskeletal injuries may have some throbbing and
discomforting sensations while you receive the treatment and
residual soreness for about 24-36 hours. According to Baxter
Bell, MD, an acupuncturist and family physician in Oakland,
CA, the rebalancing of the "chi" or bioenergetics which is
responsible for the treatment may result in some local effects
such as what you may be experiencing. However, these effects
should not be lasting for days.
The best approach when utilizing
acupuncture is first make sure that you have made sure with
your primary care doctor that there isn't any spinal or muscle
injury resulting from your whiplash. You must make sure that
first of all there isn't some acute injury that isn't being
dealt with. Second, when you work with your acupuncturist, he
or she needs to fully explain what your diagnosis, and
treatment. Would you go into a car shop and not have the
dealer tell you about your car? Same thing here. Know what to
expect and how the acupuncture will affect not just the pain,
but other areas of your body too.
Pain from an injury can be annoying to
debilitating at times. Oriental medicine and acupuncture can
do wonders for many things that western biomedicine hasn't
helped for. However, I must emphasize that we are still
finding the optimal way of integrating acupuncture as part of
the holistic medical treatment, and until then it's best to
have you medical doctor and your acupuncturist work together
as a team with you.
Good Luck
Dr. Jason
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