Management of Post-Operative Pain with Acupuncture

384 Pages·2007·2.15 MB·English

by  Peilin Sun MD

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First published 2007
ISBN-13: 978 0 443 10361 2
ISBN-10: 0 443 10361 5
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Foreword
The ability of acupuncture to control pain is generally The problem with herbal medicine is that tonifying
recognised and, indeed, many acupuncture clinical the Spleen in such a case may aggravate the Dampness
trials concentrate exclusively on this application and make the patient worse. That is why when tonify-
of acupuncture. Acupuncture’s effectiveness in ing in such cases with herbal medicine, one must always
controlling pain has been documented ever since the pay attention to balancing cloying tonic herbs with herbs
times of the “Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal that resolve Dampness.
Medicine”. By contrast, no such problem arises with acupunc-
Although pain may be classified as Empty or Full, ture because, by the very insertion of a needle in a
in nearly every kind of pain there is some stagnation channel, we move Qi and Blood. To go back to the
of Qi and/or Blood obstructing the channels and above example, if we tonify ST-36 and SP-6 there is no
causing pain. Chinese medicine encapsulates this danger of these having a “cloying” effect in the way
concept in the saying “bu tong ze tong; tong ze bu tong” that herbal tonics would do.
which means “obstruction causes pain; if there is no It is this ability of acupuncture to move Qi and
obstruction, there is no pain”. Blood that renders it a therapy of choice in dealing
One of the great advantages of acupuncture is that with pain. Moreover, acupuncture is unique in that it
it is very effective in moving Qi and Blood. Indeed, not only moves Qi and Blood easily, it can also do this
whatever the needling technique, one cannot insert a quickly, sometimes even in a matter of seconds.
needle in a channel without moving Qi and Blood. If Dr Sun Peilin published his excellent book The
we were to ask “Which points move Qi and Blood?”, my Treatment of Pain with Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture in
answer would be “Every point!”. 2002. He has now followed that text with this on the
This is, in fact, an advantage of acupuncture over treatment of postoperative pain with acupuncture.
herbal medicine when dealing with complex Full- The book is a treasure-house of clinical gems with
Empty conditions (which are in the overwhelming many new slants on the treatment of pain with acu-
majority in outpatients with chronic diseases). When puncture. For example, there is a long chapter on the
we are faced with a patient suffering from a condi- importance of using the calming the Mind method in
tion characterised by simultaneous Fullness and order to stop pain.
Emptiness, we are always faced with the dilemma of Another very important feature of the book is a
whether we should concentrate on tonifying the Defi- detailed analysis of the channels for each area of pain
ciency or on eliminating pathogenic factors. so that the treatment is clearly honed on the right area
For example, a patient with chronic fatigue syn- and the right channel. A new feature of the book is a
drome presents with clear symptoms of Dampness reference to secondary channels (divergent, muscle
in the muscles and the Stomach-Spleen at the same and Luo) in the treatment of pain.
time as presenting with a severe deficiency of the The book discusses the functions of channels besides
Spleen. Should we concentrate on resolving Damp- that of points (as most modern Chinese books do). I
ness or on tonifying the Spleen? Or should we do have always considered it strange that, in the acupunc-
both simultaneously? ture literature in English, not much attention is given
viii foreword
to the secondary channels i.e. the muscle channels As an example of the application of the theory of
(Jing Jin), the divergent channels (Jing Bie) and the channels to clinical practice, in the chapter on breast
Connecting channels (Luo Mai). Dr Sun’s book is a pain, Dr Sun describes in detail all the channels
welcome addition to our library of Chinese medicine. influencing the breast, e.g. Stomach, Liver, Yin Qiao
Indeed, modern Chinese sources are also rather scanty Mai, Yin Wei Mai, Large Intestine divergent channel,
when it comes to the secondary channels. At best, the the Gall Bladder muscle channel, the Stomach muscle
pathways are described in detail but few indications channel, and the Heart muscle channel.
are given with regard to their clinical use. The book not only discusses the use of acupuncture
A knowledge of the secondary channels (Connect- to stop postoperative pain, but it also highlights the
ing, muscle and divergent channels) greatly enriches other important effects of acupuncture, such as stop-
our clinical practice. The Connecting channels are ping infection and promoting healing; both essential
involved in many common pathologies such as Qi after surgery.
stagnation and Blood stasis and play an important role
in the pathology of postoperative pain. Giovanni Maciocia
Preface
This book is intended to be the companion volume that can be applied besides point puncture, such as
toThe Treatment of Pain with Chinese Herbs and some specific needling techniques, moxibustion,
Acupuncture. auricular therapy, wrist and ankle needles,
Postoperative pain, minor or severe, is one of the embedding needle, Plum-Blossom needle, point
main complaints or complications associated with injection, electric stimulation, etc. It is logical and
an operation, occurring anything from a few hours practical that the more approaches that can be simul-
to a few years after the operation, even to the end of taneously applied with point puncture, the better the
life. Although postoperative pain is one of the topics therapeutic results that can be expected. Thus this
discussed in the category of pain syndromes, it still book emphasises knowledge on needle manipulations
calls for specific techniques and approaches that are and some important techniques, including some
different from routine treatments for postoperative supplementary and additional techniques.
pain. Acupuncture is one of the most powerful tech- Although operation can correct some tissues and
niques and approaches in dealing with postoperative can even save life, operation itself is a type of trau-
pain that occurs either immediately after the opera- matic injury that inevitably causes some damage to
tion or subsequently, or which exists long after the certain channels, collaterals, sinews, tendons and
operation. This is the principal reason why this book muscles, as well as some normal tissues. In order to
is devoted to the management of postoperative pain restore these extremely important components of
with acupuncture. the body and relieve postoperative pain, knowledge
In terms of acupuncture treatment for postopera- about regular meridians and extraordinary meridians,
tive pain, it is wrong to simply form an acupuncture as well as tendon–muscle meridians etc., is essential.
point prescription, to insert needles in some painful Taoism deals with the universal law of life, and
areas and then expect an excellent therapeutic result. TCM is actually the development of Taoism. There-
To ensure the achievement of such a therapeutic effect, fore, acupuncture treats postoperative pain based on
the most important issue for the practitioner is needle the theory that there should be balance between Yin
manipulation. Inadequate needle manipulation not and Yang, and smooth circulation of Qi and Blood.
only greatly influences the efficiency of the treatment, Postoperative pain occurs when this dynamic balance
affecting the confidence of the patient and continua- is disturbed, either partially or completely, after the
tion of the therapy, but also potentially damages the operation. All methods should be used to re-establish
reputation of acupuncture in managing postopera- balance in the body.
tive pain. Although some practitioners have learned Besides maintaining physical balance, acupuncture
the theory of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese treatment for postoperative pain also aims to regulate
Medicine (TCM) diagnosis, needle techniques are still the emotions, keeping them in balance. Acupuncture
their major difficulty, and thus it is not rare to hear treatment for postoperative pain while ignoring the
their doubts and complaints about acupuncture in the patient’s emotional state is an incomplete therapy.
treatment of postoperative pain. Moreover, even in the I personally want to sincerely express my thanks to
field of acupuncture itself, there are many approaches Taoism, because it is from Taoism that I was able to