If you want to know more about the general effects of acupuncture, please see here. In this section, I mention the cause of pain in the shoulder and how to treat by acupuncture.

 

The shoulder joint is actually the scapula sticking to the rib cage and the humerus (the arm bone) is hooked up in the scapula. A lot of muscles and ligaments support the arms together. It is really important to understand a very complex structure of shoulder joints to examine the cause of the pain. The following diagnosis is given by the doctor.

 

Rotator cuff damage, tendon inflammation, subacromial bursitis, Impingement syndrome, shoulder periarthritis (so-called frozen shoulder), Tendonitis of the Long Head of Biceps Brachii , Coracoid syndrome, baseball shoulder, swimming shoulder (Both are the inflammation by overuse of shoulder), sprain of the shoulder joint due to a physical trauma (small bleeding, Edema due to damage of soft tissues such as ligaments and bursa), dislocation, Subluxation, Fracture, Proximal Humeral Epiphysitis(Little leaguer’s shoulder), Calcific tendinitis, Entrapment neuropathy (Suprascapular nerve and Axillary nerve),  Or, the pain and numbness in the shoulder or arm could be coming from the neck such as Cervical disc herniation, Cervical spinal canal stenosis, Cervical spondylotic myelopathy, Cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, Ossification od posterior longitudinal ligament, Thoracic outlet syndrome (anterior scalene syndrome, cervical costal syndrome, costoclavicular syndrome, Pectoralis minor syndrome)

 

There are many symptoms, masseurs and acupuncturists have to understand all the mechanisms, but what we can do is to loosen the stiffness of the muscles and improve circulation. For the following disease, the acupuncture is effective as I treat the root of the pain directly,

Tendon inflammation, Subacromial bursitis, Impingement syndrome, Shoulder periarthritis (so-called frozen shoulder), Tendonitis of the Long Head of Biceps Brachii , Coracoid syndrome, Baseball shoulder, Swimming shoulder (Both are the inflammation by overuse of shoulder), Sprain of the shoulder joint due to a physical trauma (small bleeding, Edema due to damage of soft tissues such as ligaments and bursa), and the Entrapment neuropathy (Suprascapular nerve and Axillary nerve) However, for the other disease such as Cervical spinal canal stenosis, it is not possible to fix the root of the pain as the root of the pain comes from the deformity of the bone. For those diseases, the doctor's treatment is the first choice. However, the pain may remain after the series of treatment by doctors or rehabilitation by physio is completed. That is because the muscles around foot reacted sensitive and get stiff, that will lead the nerves around them squeezed by the stiffness of the muscles. By massaging and acupuncture, the tension of the muscle and fascia get released and lighten the burden on the nerves that are causing the pain.

In the treatment, I will find the cause of the pain by examining carefully.