Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for Injuries: So Effective it’s Almost Like Magic


By Alexa Gilmore, L.Ac


et’s consider a case together. A middle- aged man walks into my office, barely upright. His back is in acute spasm, his story common: “I was totally fine and then all of a sudden, wham! All I did was reach down to pick up the newspaper!” I make him as comfortable as possible, insert 2-3 needles into one of his hands, perhaps an additional one or two in his scalp and an- other above his upper lip. I ask him to walk around a bit as best he can, and to circle his hips, creating gentle movement in his low back. I stimulate the needles as he does so. Several minutes later, he’s standing straight and the pain is nearly gone. He thinks I’m a Jedi.


L Or this one: a 32 year-old woman with


a sprained ankle from an early morning Cross Fit training. It seemed minor at first and she dismissed it—just a dull ache from having landed funny while jumping. As the day progressed, however, the pain and swelling steadily increased until she could barely walk without assistance. I needled some tender points in her opposite wrist,


did an in-and-out needle technique on her swollen ankle, and within 5 minutes her pain had dropped from a 7 out of 10 down to a 2. She was able to walk out of the clinic unaided and drive herself home. She called me a magician.


I’m not a magician (nor a Jedi, though I


don’t mind the designation), and acupunc- ture isn’t magic. Far from it. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine (a comprehensive system of which acupuncture is a single tool) is a science. It’s a science based upon acute observations of the natural world and the human’s place within that world. These observations weren’t made by just a few people or a small group of “believers,” nor were they made over the course of just a few decades or even just a few centuries. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine is based on the research, scholarship, debate, and practical experience of millions of people over the course of two millennia. It’s an elegant, sophisticated system of medi- cine that is clinically effective. So effective, sometimes, that it’s almost


like magic. And this is never truer than in the context of acute musculo-skeletal and sports injuries, where the immediate ef- ficacy of acupuncture really shines. The twin disciplines of fighting and


healing have long been linked in Chinese medicine. Chinese martial and medical his- tory is rich with stories of famous warriors who could take you down with the precise strike of a single acupuncture point, then compassionately set your broken bones and apply a potent herbal poultice to expedite their mending. My office is much less dra- matic; my warriors are weekend warriors. However, the goal of every athlete and


active person, ancient or modern, has al- ways been to get back to the activities they love as quickly as possible. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help you do just that.


The approach to treating sports injuries with Chinese medicine differs from that of Western medicine in a few important ways. You’re probably familiar with the Western acute inflammation adage, RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. Rest is obvious. You must take the time


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to heal. Elevation is helpful as well; raising the injured part above the area of the heart allows gravity to assist in draining excess fluid.


Compression we’re less keen on than our western counterparts. Compression limits swelling, but it also limits circulation through the injured area, increases stagna- tion of blood and fluids above and below the injury, and ultimately leads to a slower recovery.


And then there’s Ice. We can sum- marize Chinese medicine’s view of ice this way: ice is for dead people. Ice reduces the initial swelling and inflammation of an


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