JOINT PAIN

With over 230 moveable and semi-moveable joints in your body, it is no wonder that joint pain is so common. There are many causes of joint pain, ranging from degenerative changes such as osteoarthritis to infections to muscular imbalances to inflammation and more. There are also many kinds of joint pain without known cause---termed idiopathic.

We often hear people tell us about their achy joints when the weather gets cold and/or damp. Dr. Thomas Sculco, director of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, stated that "There's no question that the majority of people who have arthritis or joint problems in general feel worse with weather changes. In a cool, damp climate, the muscles are probably a little more irritable and prone to spasm. Also, the blood supply to the muscles may be diminished. Those who have had surgery or a joint injury will feel changes in barometric pressure in the affected joint. It's not known why."

While there continues to be controversy on this topic, Traditional Chinese Medicine has its own explanation for this phenomenon. TCM was developed by observing nature and comparing it to patterns and symptoms in the human body. Thus, when the joints are invaded by dampness, the pain is sensed as heaviness or numbness and there is swelling in the joint. When the joints are invaded by cold, the pain is strong and fixed and is relieved by heat. If the joints are invaded by wind, the pain will move from joint to joint. If the joints are invaded by heat, there will be redness and swelling and the joint will feel hot. Patterns can also be combined, so you can have joint pain that is swollen and heavy, but moves from joint to joint, making it a combination of dampness and wind.

U.S. researchers report arthritic joints really do get worse depending upon the weather, and traditional Chinese acupuncture can be an effective treatment for the condition.
-- SAN ANTONIO, Oct 19, 2004
(United Press International via COMTEX)

TCM categorizes joint pain as "Bi syndrome". The Chinese word "Bi" translates as "obstruction". Whenever there is an obstruction in the smooth flow of Qi, there will be pain.

Once a doctor of TCM assesses the cause of the joint pain, a treatment plan is made using acupuncture, internal and/or external Chinese herbs, food cures, tui na massage, and exercises to relieve the pain and rebalance the body.

Here are some interesting facts about the bones and joints in the human body:

  • Can you believe that giraffes have the same number of bones in their necks as humans? Giraffe neck vertebrae are just a lot longer.

  • The human hand alone has 27 bones.

  • Bones can be extremely strong. In fact, a pole vaulter can absorb up to 20,000 pounds of pressure per square inch on his thigh bones (femur) when he lands.

"Very good evidence exists for acupuncture as an alternative treatment for TMJ dysfunction. A number of well-designed trials found that acupuncture can help provide long-term pain relief for this condition."
-- University of Maryland Medical Center


We conclude that the combination of acupuncture with shoulder exercise may offer effective treatment for frozen shoulder.
-- Sun KO, Chan KC, Lo SL, Fong DY.
Acupuncture for frozen shoulder. Hong Kong Med J. 2001 Dec;7(4):381-91.

In a study published in the British Journal of Rheumatology in 1994, researchers performed acupuncture on 48 people who had suffered tennis elbow for at least two months. Overall, people who received acupuncture said their pain decreased by 55%, versus only15% for people who received a placebo treatment (subjects thought they received acupuncture, but did not).
--A Molsberger and E Hille.
The analgesic effect of acupuncture in chronic tennis elbow pain. The British Journal of Rheumatology, Vol 33, 1162-1165