Back Pain
It seems we all suffer from lower back pain at some stage or another. Most of the medical profession will claim it is because the lower back is a fragile thing and not very well designed. Actually, it is very well designed. It allows us to move in an incredible variety of ways whilst keeping us balanced on two feet.
Often when lower back pain occurs, health care professionals will go straight to treating the lower back where the pain is. This can give short term relief but in my opinion, this area is not the root of the problem.
I have had a lot of success treating lower back pain by locating those areas (muscles), remote from the lower back, that puts strain on the lower back. These are often muscle groups that skew the proper alignment of the pelvis which in turn puts tension on the vertebrae. This includes tight hamstrings, groin muscles, buttock muscles and even upper back muscles (those stringy ones either side of the spine). By systematically finding and releasing those tight muscles I often find the patient has long lasting relief and regain mobility - even when there is evidence of disk herniation.
And that's where acupuncture is crucial to the treatment. Those needles can get to and release deep muscles which are next to impossible to get to with any other method!
Often when lower back pain occurs, health care professionals will go straight to treating the lower back where the pain is. This can give short term relief but in my opinion, this area is not the root of the problem.
I have had a lot of success treating lower back pain by locating those areas (muscles), remote from the lower back, that puts strain on the lower back. These are often muscle groups that skew the proper alignment of the pelvis which in turn puts tension on the vertebrae. This includes tight hamstrings, groin muscles, buttock muscles and even upper back muscles (those stringy ones either side of the spine). By systematically finding and releasing those tight muscles I often find the patient has long lasting relief and regain mobility - even when there is evidence of disk herniation.
And that's where acupuncture is crucial to the treatment. Those needles can get to and release deep muscles which are next to impossible to get to with any other method!
Sciatic Pain
OUCH! I've had it and it's flat out not nice. However, there is good news. It is relatively simple to treat and I have seen vast improvement after two to three treatments. How do I view it and treat it?
Compression on the sciatic nerve seems to be the instigator here. And again, in my opinion, in the majority of cases it is caused by muscles that have gone into spasm - but take note: that spasm can last for a long time. YEARS. Well, after years it technically becomes a knotted muscle.
Treatment is again to release the tight knotted muscles that are contributing to the pressure. A lot of time this in the glutes - the really really deep ones. But sometimes the muscles in the lower back are causative as well.
NOTE: I have treated sciatic pain in patients so that they are pain free with an MRI taken post treatment confirming that there is a herniated disk. i.e. Sciatic pain can occur after a disk herniation but the herniation is often not the ongoing cause of pain :-)
Compression on the sciatic nerve seems to be the instigator here. And again, in my opinion, in the majority of cases it is caused by muscles that have gone into spasm - but take note: that spasm can last for a long time. YEARS. Well, after years it technically becomes a knotted muscle.
Treatment is again to release the tight knotted muscles that are contributing to the pressure. A lot of time this in the glutes - the really really deep ones. But sometimes the muscles in the lower back are causative as well.
NOTE: I have treated sciatic pain in patients so that they are pain free with an MRI taken post treatment confirming that there is a herniated disk. i.e. Sciatic pain can occur after a disk herniation but the herniation is often not the ongoing cause of pain :-)
