I
have had shoulder pain for a few months and have been thinking of acupuncture.
Do you have any suggestions?
Shoulder pain
can be from a variety of causes and not all respond to one standard therapy.
Sometimes shoulder pain can be long standing and be very debilitating. Many
types of drugs
and non-drug therapies are used to treat shoulder pain. Acupuncture is widely
touted to treat a variety of pain syndromes. It is widely believed that
acupuncture acts by releasing chemicals, over-ride pain signals or allows good
energy to flow. Based on the literature, some studies do show that acupuncture
can help relieve pain
which is of short duration. However, the treatment does not work if the pain is
from full thickness muscle tears, shoulder dislocation and chronic arthritis.
To date the evidence for acupuncture in treatment of
shoulder pain is very weak. Moreover acupuncture requires many sessions and is
prohibitively expensive. If you have pain in your shoulder, first find out the
cause and see a decent rheumatologist. Sports physicians and orthopedic
surgeons are not initially recommended as they tend to order expensive tests
and recommend surgery, even when not indicated. If you are ever recommended surgery as a first treatment for shoulder pain, always get a second opinion. Results after surgery on the shoulder SUCK.
