Chronic Back Pain Therapies
Got back pain?
If you don’t currently, it’s a safe bet that you have at some point.
It’s estimated that about 80% of the adult population have back issues at least 1-2 times a year with 8% of the population over age 18 that deal with chronic back pain to the point that it affects day to day life.
But, when you’ve continued to just “deal with it,” how is it possible to imagine relieving it completely? Most doctors are limited with what they can do about pain - muscle relaxers, opioids, surgery, nerve blocks. Unfortunately these won’t fix the issue completely, but rather slap a bandaid on the pain with a hope and a prayer that this will work.
A lot of people come into my office with severe pain, seeking our help as a last resort.
They’ve been living in pain for so long that they will “try anything” for some relief. I can’t help but wish that these patients had found me sooner, before it got to the point of being a last resort because I know we could’ve prevented it from getting worse by using acupuncture, herbal medicine, and adjunctive therapies like cupping, gua sha (scraping), and moxibustion.
Let's explore how these therapies not only treat your back pain, but prevent it from becoming a chronic problem.
There are two major classifications in Chinese medicine when we assess back pain: excess and deficiency.
When we have an excess presentation, the patient is often active, overworking or overusing muscles without adequate stretching, warming up, or after care of their bodies. Muscles develop tightness and fascial planes seize up, which causes inadequate blood flow to the tissues. The lack of oxygen prevents the muscle from repairing, and over time can cause stabbing pain that refers to other areas. In Chinese medicine, we call this stagnation of qi and blood.
Over time, this can cause weakness in other muscles turning into a more deficiency or chronic type condition. We often use cupping and gua sha to treat this type of pain, as they are treatments that move and disperse.
Pain due to deficiency often presents as dull achiness. It is more often the result of not moving our bodies enough, or building adequate blood flow and circulation to the tissue. This type of pain, while more common in the elderly, is becoming more common due to desk jobs and lifestyles that are more sedentary than the past. When I see this type of presentation in my office, cupping and gua sha are unlikely a good fit as they can be too moving and dispersing for someone who lacks good qi and blood flow. We want to build better qi and blood while focusing on strengthening muscle groups, and adding more gentle movement on a regular basis. Moxibustion, or mugwort therapy, are often a better fit for this type of pain.
So, how these therapies work?
Cupping
Cupping therapy involves placing suction cups on soft tissue to help release fascial planes, move qi and blood, and increases oxygen content to the area. This is important for muscle repair, as the blood contains cells that aid in tissue repair. Sometimes marking can occur when cupping is applied- these marks are not the same as bruises. The marking comes from blood that has stagnated in the tight muscle tissues due to lack of adequate flow. When the fascial planes are too bound, blood cannot enter or leave a muscle as freely as it could before.
Gua Sha
Gua Sha works in a very similar way: it increases oxygen to the tissue. Scraping is sometimes chosen over cupping when there is scar tissue that needs to be broken up, or if the pain is over an area of the body that cupping may not be the best choice due to lack of area to place a cup.
Both cupping and gua sha can leave marks, and in general, those marks fade and disappear within 3-6 days. With greater amounts of stagnation, they may linger a bit longer than that timeframe. As you get further into treatment, and your body begins to heal itself and improve circulation, those marks fade faster and the amount of marking overall becomes less prominent.
The dispersing actions of cupping and gua sha make them a perfect fit for treating back pain due to overuse and overwork.
Moxibuston or Moxa
Moxibustion also improves blood flow, but in a different way.
It is the technique of taking fleeced mugwort leaves and burning them gently over areas of the body that may need attention. Moxa can be applied to the top of the needle, directly on the skin, or indirectly using a moxa stick. The gentle warmth improves circulation to the area, but moxa is also known to stimulate and improve the immune system by dispersing free radicals in the body and preventing lipid peroxidation wherein free radicals can damage overall cellular health.
This makes Moxa an excellent choice for healing chronic back pain due to weakness and deficiency.
Next Steps
Know that you know additional therapies to treat chronic back pain, make sure to consult a licensed acupuncturist on which method is best for your needs.
