I’m sure you have seen acupuncture charts of a man with lines and points all over his body. That model is the map of the “Meridian System.” The meridians are lines where the Qi flows and acupuncture points reside. If you look at the back you will see several lines extending all the way up the back. The most common reason for back pain, or pain anywhere in the body, is stagnation of Qi along the meridian system. There is an old Chinese saying which is also the motto of my acupuncture school, “Where there is stagnation there is pain… And where there is pain there will be stagnation.” (In Chinese pinyin: Pu tong su tong… Tong su pu tong.)
Perhaps the most common type of back pain is nagging low-back pain. In the Chinese medical system we say that the kidneys rule the low back. When the kidneys become deficient in Qi through overwork, stress, poor eating and sleeping habits, drug/alcohol use, and as the Chinese would have you believe too much sex (but I say, “make love not war!"), the low back also becomes weak and prone to injury. We need to have strong and flowing Qi coursing through our bodies. In states of deficiency this does not happen and we get sick and injured. The Qi becomes stagnated either slowly in chronic conditions or suddenly in injury states.
We unfortunately live in a society where stress and stimulation is at a maximum. Even while “relaxing” on the couch we are playing shooter video games or watching high drama television shows. It’s a far cry from sitting under a cherry blossom tree next to a babbling brook, watching the flower petals blowing away in the wind. It’s no wonder that our backs hurt!
So now that we have set the stage for a deficiency in our kidneys and made ourselves prone to injury, let’s see what else affects our backs. Along with deficiency of Qi, deficiencies of other vital substances in the body - like yin which moistens the tissues and tendons, and blood which nourishes the muscles - can also leave us prone to injury. Even osteoporosis, leading to pain or fractures, is considered a kidney deficiency case.
With all of these scenarios it is vital to address the underlying deficiencies as well as treat the acute pain affecting you at the moment. If I were to boil down the difference between mainstream medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine, it’s that mainstream medicine concerns itself primarily with the management of symptoms and not with source of the problem. It provides “relief” from symptoms while those symptoms reside on their own. It is medical hand-holding so to speak. Acupuncture and herbal medicine treat the symptoms and correct the imbalance that led to the symptoms. After all, wouldn’t you rather not be laid up with back pain again next month? Vicodin and Soma won’t help you in the long run.
I want to leave you with a bit of clinical wisdom. I treat people with all kinds of medical problems, and deficiency of Qi, Yin, Yang, or Blood is at the core of most of them. These TCM concepts can lead to everything from low back pain to impotence, dizziness, and/or high blood pressure. Acupuncture can sort these patterns out very quickly and start you towards a path of healing the core problem. A healthy back equals a healthy body!
If you have been struggling with back pain, neck pain, migraines, or other sources of pain, acupuncture may offer the relief you’ve been looking for. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have, or you can book an appointment online. I accept insurance, and most plans offer acupuncture coverage. I look forward to helping you!