Treating back pain with community acupuncture

Acupuncture for back pain… in a recliner chair?

I’ve been treating one of my neighbors up in the Cazadero Hills most Friday afternoons, along with his family. He’s a very athletic person, strong and fit, and so he was quite surprised when a moment of lifting firewood in an awkward position left him with back pain that just wouldn’t quit.​

“Will you be able to treat it,” he texted me, “in a recliner chair?”

It’s a question I’ve gotten many times in the past 13 years of doing community acupuncture, and I’m happy to say the answer is yes. But how?
In Chinese medicine, practitioners view the body as being lined with meridians, much the way a landscape is lined with rivers and paths. When there is pain in an area, we understand that the meridian that moves through that part of the body has been blocked. By using a needle to stimulate the movement of energy through the meridian- in a point anywhere along that pathway- we can help the body unblock the area and restore a feeling of ease.
Over years of practicing and giving thousands of treatments, I’ve come to realize certain points are much more effective at moving energy than others. That’s why if you come in with low back pain, you will find me taking time to needle several points along the sides of the foot. These points have been used since antiquity for their powerful effect on opening blocked channels and relieving pain, and I find them to be very reliable.

I have also found that ensuring you are in a comfortable position will allow your nervous and musculo-skeletal systems the space to relax and come back to a place of harmony. That’s why I always take the time to check if you need a boslter or a blanket, or to make any adjustments to your position before we get started. It’s worth it!