Surrounding the Dragon
This week I had the pleasure of meeting and treating a lady that has had severe, chronic neck pain for the last 17 years. It causes severe headaches, almost daily.
Whenever I do an intake I always ask about pain. I ask my patient to 'quantify' the pain on a one-to-ten scale, with ten being unbearable. Once I had a young woman say her headaches were about a 13. OUCH!!! was all I could say. This weeks lady said her pain was about 9 and her headache so far (10:30 a.m.) was only a 4. I think she would have went for higher numbers, but wanted to work within the scale presented to her...
As I was palpating the muscles on and around her shoulder blade I felt a knot, about the size of my thumb. The whole thumb. I decided it was time to Surround the Dragon.
One of the techniques we use for a situation like this is to insert needles around the knot and let the needles start to break-up the stagnation that is manifesting as a knot. When I put the needles into her back she felt an "unwinding" sensation in the area.
After 15 minutes or so I removed the needles and did a Tuina release treatment on her neck and shoulders. The muscles on the top of her shoulders are tighter than a towing cable. It was like pushing into a table top. Unbelieveable tension. No wonder she gets headaches.
I decided to stretch the envelope a little more. I inserted an 'intra-dermal' needle into the tightest part of the top of her shoulder, taped it over, talked it over and sent her home.
Here is the nutshell of what I said: "The intra-dermal needle is extremely small, but by leaving it in place it will continue to release the tension in your shoulder muscles and should help with your headaches. If it gets to be too much remove the tape, it is taped in place in such a way that removing the tape will pull the needle out. But be sure to look and see the needle in the tape. If it does not come out someone else will have to search it out and use tweezers to remove it."
That actually is a fairly common treatment, it is just unusual for me to do that on the first visit. But she was in such pain that I felt compelled to extend the treatment if possible.
When she l;eft she was feeling so much better, the pain was down to a 4 and her headache was gone.
Its a good start.
Whenever I do an intake I always ask about pain. I ask my patient to 'quantify' the pain on a one-to-ten scale, with ten being unbearable. Once I had a young woman say her headaches were about a 13. OUCH!!! was all I could say. This weeks lady said her pain was about 9 and her headache so far (10:30 a.m.) was only a 4. I think she would have went for higher numbers, but wanted to work within the scale presented to her...
As I was palpating the muscles on and around her shoulder blade I felt a knot, about the size of my thumb. The whole thumb. I decided it was time to Surround the Dragon.
One of the techniques we use for a situation like this is to insert needles around the knot and let the needles start to break-up the stagnation that is manifesting as a knot. When I put the needles into her back she felt an "unwinding" sensation in the area.
After 15 minutes or so I removed the needles and did a Tuina release treatment on her neck and shoulders. The muscles on the top of her shoulders are tighter than a towing cable. It was like pushing into a table top. Unbelieveable tension. No wonder she gets headaches.
I decided to stretch the envelope a little more. I inserted an 'intra-dermal' needle into the tightest part of the top of her shoulder, taped it over, talked it over and sent her home.
Here is the nutshell of what I said: "The intra-dermal needle is extremely small, but by leaving it in place it will continue to release the tension in your shoulder muscles and should help with your headaches. If it gets to be too much remove the tape, it is taped in place in such a way that removing the tape will pull the needle out. But be sure to look and see the needle in the tape. If it does not come out someone else will have to search it out and use tweezers to remove it."
That actually is a fairly common treatment, it is just unusual for me to do that on the first visit. But she was in such pain that I felt compelled to extend the treatment if possible.
When she l;eft she was feeling so much better, the pain was down to a 4 and her headache was gone.
Its a good start.
posted by Michael Clifford, L. Ac. | 4:02 PM
2 Comments:
Come on,c'mon,c'mon! What happened next? The world is waiting for your answer.
I am going to receive 'Surround the Dragon' today for my lower back pain (going on about 8 years). I am excited, but a bit anxious. I hope more than anything that this works, because I don't know how much longer I can take the pain. I am only 33 and worry about the increase in back pain with pregnancy (we're trying to conceive).
I appreciate your antecdotes on your patient. It gives me more hope that this CAN work!
All the best to you and yours.
Karen
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