Chronic Shoulder Pain (48 year old, Female)
Clinical Manifestations:
She had suffered from pain in left shoulder for three years. Although the degree of pain was not severe, she had obvious limited mobility in her shoulder that affected her sleep, exercises, and other daily activities. She was unable to touch the ear or shoulder scapula on the right side. Diagnosed with subacromial bursitis or rotator cuff tendonitis, she took anti-inflammatory medications and physical therapy, without much success.
Acupuncture Treatment
In three months, the patient had 22 sessions of acupuncture. At the beginning, three needles were used on reflex points detected in the deltoid muscle, which were Binao (LI14), Quchi (LI11), and Waiguan (TE5). Needles were retained for 30 min after the generation of needling sensations. Acupuncture was applied twice weekly. The first six sessions used a combination of needling and infrared radiation. Later on, due to indistinct effectiveness, EA was used instead. Meanwhile, patient was instructed to exercise the affected shoulder.
Treatment Result
By the end of the treatment, there was significant improvement in her shoulder mobility and pain. A follow-up four years later found that the patient was completely healed after discharging from acupuncture. *image used for illustrative purposes only.
