A recent shoulder pain case at Raleigh Acupuncture demonstrates acupuncture’s effectiveness in resolving stubborn pain affecting the rotator cuff muscles. A 54-year-old man came to our clinic, having been diagnosed with a rotator cuff injury. He had pain on the side and back of his right shoulder that was worse with activity. An avid pickleball player, the injury had sidelined him. He joked that he had tried playing pickleball with his left hand, but that did not work out well!
Rotator Cuff Muscles
The rotator cuff is a group of four muscles and their tendons surrounding the shoulder joint, providing stability and assisting arm movement. These muscles include the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor, and subscapularis. The rotator cuff muscles work together to ensure proper function and movement of the shoulder joint.
The supraspinatus enables arm abduction (moving away from the body), the infraspinatus and teres minor contribute to external rotation, while the subscapularis aids in internal rotation. Together, they play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of the shoulder joint, supporting arm mobility, and stabilizing the shoulder during activities such as lifting and reaching. Dysfunction or injuries to the rotator cuff can lead to pain, weakness, and limited range of motion in the shoulder.
Shoulder Pain Case
Our patient’s diagnosis did not specify which rotator cuff muscles were injured. Or if his doctor had specified, our patient did not have that detailed information. However, we conducted a thorough examination and determined that not only were the four rotator cuff muscles affected, but the deltoid also seemed injured. The deltoid is the large muscle that sits on top of the shoulder joint, which you feel when you grab your shoulder with your opposite hand.
Given that most of our patient’s pain was on the back and sides of his shoulder, we treated him face down on the table. We have face cradles (like in a massage) that make it relatively comfortable to be in this position. We then inserted needles into acupuncture points in or near the affected muscles. Unlike dry needling, which only focuses on the motor point and does not retain needles, our treatment included both motor points and points along the affected channels. We also retained the needles (kept them in), allowing them ample time to heal the muscles, increase blood circulation, and focus the body’s attention on healing the injury.
Electroacupuncture for Shoulder Pain
We chose not to use electroacupuncture for the first treatment, wanting to see how our patient responded. The sign of an effective acupuncture treatment is whether the practitioner gave the proper strength treatment based on the patient’s constitution and needs. You don’t want to overtreat and risk the patient being sore afterward. Likewise, you don’t want to undertreat and miss out on the full healing potential of a session. For this first session, we needled with moderate intensity and asked our patient to monitor how he felt afterward.
At his second session, he reported feeling significantly better for three days, after which the pain slowly began to return. He estimated there was a net improvement of twenty percent. We explained to him that this was a good response and reflected that the strength of the first treatment was appropriate for his needs. We conducted a similar treatment on his second visit.
Shoulder Pain Resolved With Acupuncture
When he returned for his third session, he reported a forty percent improvement overall. We told him that based on his response, he would probably need just another two or three treatments to get a full recovery. This proved to be the case. After his fifth session, he was healed and back on the pickleball court.
The key to his successful treatment was knowing which muscles and channels to treat and applying the right treatment strength for his needs. Some patients would have done better with electroacupuncture, strengthening the treatments, while others might have required smaller and fewer needles for a more gentle treatment. Stronger is not necessarily better – the right strength is best. That’s the practitioner’s job – to assess the patient’s injury in conjunction with their feedback.
Next Steps
Try acupuncture if you are struggling with shoulder pain. Most shoulder ailments respond well to acupuncture, including rotator cuff injuries, frozen shoulder, deltoid and trapezius injuries, and shoulder blade dysfunction. We will examine and assess your injury on your first visit and determine the best treatment for your needs. Read our Google reviews and testimonials for more examples of successful shoulder pain treatments.
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What our Clients are Saying
Tennis player with shoulder pain. Getting worse to the point of freezing up. Went to acupuncture. Starting easing immediately. Now back to tennis full force with no shoulder pain. I recommend this practice.
After shoulder surgery following a car accident, my shoulder was always stiff and achy. PT helped, but I suffered every day from shoulder pain. I went to Raleigh Acupuncture and they really helped. I did four treatments and my shoulder pain was completely gone.
I’m a golfer and started having trouble with my left shoulder over a year ago. My doctor wanted to do surgery, but I wanted to try other alternatives first. So I tried acupuncture. The folks at Raleigh Acupuncture were very professional, reasonably priced and did excellent work. They resolved my shoulder pain completely. I use them now for other pains in my post-50 body! Thank you Raleigh Acupuncture.