As a practicing family physician for the past 30 years, I had always valued the importance of continually incorporating new cutting-edge methods of pain treatment into my practice. I initially started with acupuncture in 1995 and in the past eight years, due to my growing interest in pain management, I have expanded my expertise to include two other forms of therapy called Trigger Point Acupuncture and Laser Acupuncture.
These three treatment methods can be used in combination or separately, depending on the nature of the condition. I tailor each treatment to the specific needs and responses of the patient, and so I will utilize any one or a combination of these treatments. While acupuncture has been around for a long time, and most people understand it, the other two forms of therapy have much more to offer but are less understood. Most people have not heard of trigger-point acupuncture or laser acupuncture, because both are contemporary advances and not many practitioners have gained the expertise in this type of therapy.
How do you know if you have Trigger Point Pain?
The process of trigger point diagnosis is simple. Check out the following applicable symptoms. If you have more than half of these and no other explanation for your pain, you probably have some trigger points:
- You have sore spots in muscles
- Your pain usually occurs in specific areas of your body
- The problem feels more like muscles than joints
- Your pain is primarily dull, aching and nagging
- You feel a lot of stiffness as well as pain
- Affected areas feel weak and heavy
- Stretching is appealing (but not very effective)
- Hot showers and baths are usually helpful
- Anti- inflammatory medications don’t work for you
How to Treat Trigger Point Pain?
Trigger-point acupuncture is an established form of treatment in the medical field. It involves using injections of tiny amounts of local anesthetic into specific knots that are formed in damaged muscles. Most of the time, with injuries and strains, it is not the entire muscle that becomes injured, but only certain spots within the muscles. By putting a needle and local anesthetic directly into the knot, it releases the knot thereby allowing the muscle to relax and to ultimately become pain free.
Most people assume that local anaesthetic is only used for freezing, but it has another property of blocking pain pathways on a long-term basis. I use a very small amount of local anesthetic, essentially just one-to-two drops per knot, which is all that is needed to change the nerve signal.
I usually prescribe trigger-point acupuncture before acupuncture or laser acupuncture, because it offers the most benefit for most patients. It works quickly and with minimal side-effects. And it is covered by MSP.
Below are a few results of Trigger Point Acupuncture shared by patients:
“The best part was to see the pain go away so quickly”
– Jenny Narayan, Delta. Age: 48 years.
“I am Enjoying Life a Lot More!”
– Melissa Ince, North Vancouver. Age 36 years
“It really improved my overall well being and life!”
– Maritza Mc Lean, North Vancouver. Age: 43 years
To view more success stories, please click here.
In my next email, I will bring you more information on Laser Acupuncture and it’s benefits in conjunction with Trigger Point Acupuncture .
With Trigger Point Acupuncture and Laser Acupuncture, you have nothing to lose except pain!
Committed to health,
Dr. Naran, M.D