When patients come for treatment of a physical symptom at Raleigh Acupuncture, we often find their conditions involves a hidden emotional component. This is certainly not always the case. Neck pain is often simply neck pain, and sciatica is most often sciatica. But there are times when pain transcends the physical. Today’s blog post describes how there is more to acupuncture than meets the eye.
Acupuncture is well suited to bring such awareness to the surface. The benefit is that when such a situation arises, both the physical and emotional pieces need to be addressed for complete healing to occur.
Case Study – Emotion Behind the Pain
Many years ago a patient came in complaining of pain in her throat. Every time she swallowed triggered severe pain. She was constantly trying to clear her throat, but nothing ever came up. This had been going on for the past 9 months.
She had been to half a dozen doctors, multiple tests had been run, all with no results. There was nothing in her throat, certainly nothing to cause the level of pain and distress she was feeling. At her wits end, she decided to try acupuncture.
Revealing The Root Of Pain
After examining the patient and getting her medical history, I asked her, “At the time this pain started, did anything traumatic happen in your life?” She looked at me with a strange expression and answered, “As a matter of fact, something did happen. My mother died.”
I asked, “Were you close to your mother?”. She answered, “We were best friends. We lived together, spent all of our time together for the past 55 years.” At this, her eyes swelled up and she started to weep inconsolably. After a few minutes and many tissues later, I said to her, “I know what’s causing your throat pain.” There is more to acupuncture than meets the eye.
And in fact, I did know. I gave her an acupuncture treatment for a condition known in Chinese medicine as Plum Pit Qi. After just one treatment her throat pain was relieved by 50%. She could feel the pain dissipate during the treatment. She was amazed.
The Connection Between Pain and Emotion
After three treatments her throat pain was completely resolved. It never returned. Plum Pit Qi is a condition causing pain in the throat from something called “insubstantial phlegm”. It arises when a person has experienced something in their lives that they cannot handle, that is too difficult emotionally. It is a situation in their life that they cannot handle emotionally, or “cannot swallow”.
The acupuncture treatment for Plum Pit Qi resolves insubstantial phlegm in the throat, nourishes the Lungs (which are the organs that allows grieving), and smoothes the Liver Qi (which is the organ for easing stress). In other words, the treatment restores balance that was disrupted by the death of her mother.
This is an example where we had to treat both the physical and emotional condition to get good results and restore health. There are hundreds of other cases we have treated over the years at Raleigh Acupuncture that are similar to this one. And Chinese medicine is well suited for the job.
Next Steps
If you are struggling with a health issue, either physical or emotional, try acupuncture. A well trained doctor of Chinese medicine can get to the root of your situation and help you heal. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine have a 3000 year history. Let it serve you.
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More To Acupuncture Than Meets The Eye
There’s more to acupuncture than meets the eye. It helped this woman with throat pain. It may be able to help you with your pain. Sometimes there is a mind/body connection with pain, other times not. The practitioners at Raleigh Acupuncture can assess your condition and find the root issue. Treating the root leads to faster recover and better health.
