Lumbar Pain (1)
A man in his fifties whom I met again on street last week reminds me of his previous illness. He came to our clinic complaining of having discomfort and pain at his lower back area last year. Prior to his visit at our clinic, he had gone through blood test, urine test, x-ray, and even ultrasound test requested by other doctors. From those findings, these doctors told him he has no problem, but discomfort with pain still persists. When he was in our clinic, upon checking through palpation, we found a thick layer of pathogens (dampness and coldness) at the superficial level of his lower back area, also on both pelvic areas and including both legs’ tendons and muscles were tighten which we classified his sickness as having “Bi Syndrome” according to Traditional Chinese Medicine. In regards to this, the discomfort with pain he felt was eliminated right after the treatment session using comprehensive treatment methods and need not to come back for the second visit.
According to those commentators who practice western medicine, it is often more difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for lower back pain and its specific cause than other medical conditions in western medicine practice. One may have been surprised at how hard it is to arrive at a correct diagnosis and treatment plan as what this patient had experienced. No wonder there is a Chinese folklore saying, “Patient with back pain makes the doctor headache”, because the causes of back pain are often complex and multi-factorial.
In the treatment of rheumatic musculoskeletal problems, our practice is to employ Tuina massage with tendon manipulating technique first and often aided with Guasha (skin scrapping) and/or cupping methods to clear away first the obstructions on the superficial areas along the affected meridians in excessive syndrome until tighten tendons and muscles are released in order to promote normal flow of qi and blood. If the patient is not afraid of needling, then we will perform acupuncture treatment with needle insertion techniques to stimulate further the affected areas more deeply and to produce “needle grasp” effect in order to dispel out stagnation and hasten blood circulation. After these processes, we will evaluate and make sure the patient has benefited from the treatment. For mild cases, we will try to settle the problem in one or two sessions. For those severe cases, we will recommend the patient to apply “Chinese Moxibustion” if there is the need in order to further improve their condition and help lessen their visit to the clinic, especially those have bone damage and with severe tissue tear. For those who have skin sensitivity that are not suitable to use the herbal patch, we will teach them how to use and where to apply the traditional moxibustion stick. Recommendation for herbal decoction will also be introduced and prescribed based on syndrome differentiation for those patients with internal problems as needed.
Herewith, let me share a Traditional Chinese Medicine teaching which is a natural rule of law in the treatment of musculoskeletal problem, “To treat skeletal problem, must first treat the tendons and ligaments, if tighten tendons and ligaments are released, then the bones will be backed to its proper alignment. To regulate the meridians must first treat the muscles, if muscles are softened, the obstructions in the meridians will then be eliminated”.
