By Richard J. Sidor, PT, DC, Ac, CGFI
Acupuncture has been used in the Far East for thousands of years. Any treatment for human conditions that did not work would have been discarded long ago. Instead, the use of acupuncture grows.
A review of ancient Chinese texts on medical treatment shows us that stimulation of acupuncture points was never intended to be the sole treatment for any condition. In addition to acupuncture, every condition would incorporate:
- Massage
- Spinal Manipulation (the first chiropractor had visited China eight times before starting chiropractic.)
- Exercise
- Herbs (today’s medicine)
- Dietary recommendations
As you can see, it was a comprehensive approach to conditions that affected humans.
Today, many places that perform acupuncture only perform the acupuncture or may include another of the complementary procedures such as herbs or spinal manipulation. To get the most out of the treatment, as many of the other procedures should be incorporated as possible.
Since introducing acupuncture into my practice in 1999, I have treated hundreds of patients successfully with acupuncture. Some of these patients had failed with other acupuncturists and some had reached a plateau with our other treatments. Simply adding the acupuncture made all the difference in relieving the patient’s pain.
Why did they do better with acupuncture at SOR? Perhaps because we are able to incorporate more of the whole process, including the massage (deep tissue mobilization), spinal manipulation and exercise, into the treatment program.
