Key Takeaways
- Always seek treatment for back pain from a licensed acupuncturist due to their extensive training of around 3,000 hours.
- Acupuncture helps alleviate back pain by resolving stagnation that can result from trauma or repetitive motion.
- A licensed acupuncturist uses acupuncture needles, cupping, and gua sha to treat back pain and improve overall quality of life.
- Differential diagnosis allows acupuncturists to identify the root causes of back pain for comprehensive treatment.
- If you have back pain, consider trying acupuncture for both symptom relief and addressing underlying issues.
This post is the second part of a series titled “Having Back Pain? Try Acupuncture!” If you’ve not already done so, we recommend that you first read Part 1, as it provides information about back pain, its causes and how acupuncture can provide relief. Please click here to view that post: [Link]
Who should I receive acupuncture from in order to treat back pain?
When receiving acupuncture to alleviate back pain, it is important to only seek treatment from a licensed acupuncturist. While it is true that chiropractors, naturopaths and medical doctors can perform acupuncture, the training that they have is extremely limited in comparison to that of a licensed acupuncturist. A licensed acupuncturist is required to have thousands of hours of training – roughly 3,000 hours – before they graduate and obtain certification. Contrast that with chiropractors, who typically have less than 300 hours of training. Naturopaths and medical doctors are not required to have any additional hours of training before they can perform acupuncture, and many physical therapists perform acupuncture – although they call it by a different name – with no more than a weekend workshop’s worth of education.
In a previous blog post titled “The Importance Of Receiving Acupuncture From A Licensed Acupuncturist” we go into further detail about this very subject, and we also suggest that you take a moment to read through it. Receiving acupuncture from a licensed acupuncturist is very important and will prevent any unnecessary risks. Numerous serious injuries have been reported by patients of other practitioners who perform acupuncture without sufficient training.
How does acupuncture treat back pain?
There is an old saying in Traditional Chinese Medicine: “Where there’s stagnation there’s pain, and where there’s pain there’s stagnation.” Often when patients experience back pain, there is some form of stagnation which could be due to physical trauma, an old injury or even repetitive motion(s). When the flow of energy or blood is inhibited, it can create blockage that leads to stagnation. It is important to note that there can be many other causes for back pain from a Traditional Chinese Medical perspective; this just happens to be one that is quite common.
A licensed acupuncturist is trained to be able to resolve stagnation by using acupuncture needles as well as a few other treatment modalities including cupping and gua sha (also known as scraping). Certain acupuncture points will be selected based on the specific area of pain. By resolving the stagnation, pain will soon be alleviated allowing the patient’s quality of life to return to normal.
As mentioned above, stagnation is only one cause of back pain. There are many other disharmonies that can create this ailment. A licensed acupuncturist will use differential diagnosis to identify what issues exist which could be the root cause of the back pain. Since acupuncture is natural and holistic, it has the ability to treat the root cause as well as the symptoms it’s creating in order to provide long lasting relief.
If you, or someone you know, is living with back pain and is looking to alleviate it, now is the time to try acupuncture! Above & Beyond Acupuncture located in downtown Scottsdale, which is close to Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Glendale. Call us or schedule an appointment online.
