A common shoulder injury that I see with rugby players, water polo goalies, MLB baseball pitchers and yogis is pain in the shoulder that can present as deltoid pain. The deltoid is not the problem.
ACUTE TRAUMA OR OVERUSE CAN CAUSE THIS TYPE OF SHOULDER PAIN
photo credit: Pink Shorts Photography, shared with permission
Usually the pain occurs in certain positions, is difficult to pinpoint and will come and go.
There is a small space between the humeral head (the arm bone) and the acromio-clavicular joint (top of the shoulder). If there is inflammation in that space, there will be pain.
SHOULDER PAIN IN CERTAIN POSITIONS
Orthopedic evaluation will show that the problem is often the supraspinatus muscle, which is part of the rotator cuff. With athletes the cause can be acute trauma or overuse. If the cause is trauma to the shoulder, also assess the AC joint and the SC joint for sprains and the other muscles of the rotator cuff.
REFERRAL PAIN PATTERNS COULD CONFUSE THE ISSUE
Acupuncturists are uniquely able to help with this type of injury. The treatment is stealthy and not painful, we can skillfully slip needles into the subacromial space and the motor points and trigger points of the supraspinatus muscle to clear inflammation, invigorate blood flow and restore muscle function. Electroacupuncture is key.
Acupuncture texts show the acupuncture point Bing Feng Si-12 in the muscle belly of the supraspinatus. The indications for this point include the “inability to raise the arm.”
I highly recommend following up treatment working with your movement coach, athletic trainer or physical therapist to create mobility, strength and functional movement patterns.
I am so excited to provide rugby players with acupuncture therapy at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. I will provide sports acupuncture therapy for the all teams at the hotel the week before the tournament and at the stadium during the tournament.
Get your tickets soon. I promise it will be AMAZING.
This weekend in the San Francisco Bay area, I had the incredible opportunity to assist my mentor during the first weekend of his Acupuncture Sports Medicine Apprenticeship program. Acupuncturists came from as far as Toronto and as close as San Francisco. It was a small very focused group. We covered a lot of ground in three days of training with close supervision. If you are an acupuncturist looking to develop your skills in the treatment of sports injuries and pain, I highly recommend this course. It will change your practice and your capacity to help your patients. – Jenny Nieters, L.Ac.
San Francisco Bay Area, California
The Acupuncture Sports Medicine Apprenticeship Program
In January, 2016, we will begin another program on orthopedic and sports acupuncture in Oakland, California. This course is limited to twelve practitioners, and the mentorship-style group includes two to three experienced practitioners to assist Whitfield Reaves with instruction and supervision. The site in on the San Francisco Bay in Alameda, near the Oakland airport, and a ferry ride from downtown San Francisco. Practitioners may take these three-day weekends individually or all three as a program.
Weekend #1: January 22, 23, & 24, 2016 – The Neck, Shoulder, and Upper Extremity WAITING LIST
Weekend #2: February 19, 20, & 21, 2016 – The Low Back, Hip, and Pelvis WAITING LIST
Weekend #3: March 18, 19, & 20, 2016 – The Lower Extremity LIMITED SPACE
This program has several openings! Inquire now.
Cost: $900.00 per weekend, with a $300.00 deposit needed to hold a space.CEUs: These three courses are each approved for 20 PDAs/CEUs by the NCCAOM and the state of California.Site: The Hampton Inn and Suites, Oakland Airport, in Alameda, California
I developed de Quervain’s after my son was born, it is actually quite common with new mothers. It can also show up with gamers, guitar players, texting and other repetitive hand motions. Patients often report that the pain is agonizing. Not only is the pain intense, but there can also be a loss of functionality. This loss of function with a new baby is what inspired me to look for alternative treatments.
Western medicine offers treatment options of NSAIDS, steroid injections and/or surgery. These options didn’t work for my long term systemic health goals and my immediate need for functional hands, as a new mother. I used a combination of electro-acupuncture, dietary therapy and herbal medicine.
For patients looking for options, we treat this condition with electro-acupuncture, dietary therapy and herbal medicine. Everyone responds differently to treatment, and Chinese medicine does not have a one-size-fits-all approach.
Repetitive movements stressing the tendon combined with runaway inflammation can create the perfect storm.
The diagnosis is a very simple test. It can be painful. This simple video shows how to test.
De Quervain’s tenosynovitis or disease is an inflammatory condition which can present with wrist and thumb pain. It often presents with swelling or crepidus (crunchiness). It is painful with movement of the thumb.
Calling all runners, learn how acupuncture can help you recover from common ailments and strengthen and stabilize your body mechanics. Great article by fellow sports medicine acupuncturist, Ginna Ellis.
5 Common Running Injuries and How Acupuncture Can Help
Whether you’re a casual runner or a qualifying entrant in Monday’s Boston Marathon, acupuncture can help you stay on top of your running game. From knee and hip pain to plantar fasciitis and fatigue, many ailments suffered by runners can be helped by acupuncture.
Here is how acupuncture addresses the 5 most common causes of running injuries.
Lazy butt syndrome
The problem
Runners are notorious for having inactive lateral glutes, the muscles that provide stability to the pelvis as you move forward.
When these muscles don’t engage, your femur rotates inward and your hip collapses. This excessive motion in the pelvis increases instability in your knees, ankles, and feet.
Unstable levers cannot tolerate high loads in either intensity or volume, so they tend to get injured. Runners are especially prone to this particular imbalance because they often focus on training the muscles that drive them forward—for example, the quads and calves—and not the smaller muscles that stabilize the pelvis.
How acupuncture helps
A single acupuncture treatment can activate your glute muscles, restoring the connection between your brain and your butt. This allows you to maintain the hip stability require
for an injury-resilient running form.
Kinetic chain imbalances
The problem
The repetitive stress of running is transferred along lines of fascia, a type of connective tissue that links together every cell in the body. Runners often hold excess tension in the back fascial line (Achilles, calves, hamstrings, and paraspinals) and lateral fascial line (peroneals, iliotibial band, and tensor fascia latae).
Injuries occur along the weakest points of these lines, but the problem actually originates above or below the site of pain. For example, your Achilles is sore because of a hypertonic calf and hamstring.
How acupuncture helps
Whether you call them meridians, fascial trains, or kinetic chains, acupuncture has an effect on entire lines of pull in the body. By releasing adhesions and trigger points along these fascial chains, acupuncture corrects the imbalances causing your injury.
You will feel the change immediately. A single needle in your hip will illicit a noticeable release all the way down your leg and into your foot.
Inflammation
The problem
Many overuse injuries involve localized pockets of inflammation that cause pain and impair function.
Acute inflammation is a good thing—the swelling and increased blood flow are necessary for healing.
However, improper biomechanics, overtraining, poor diet, and stress impair the body’s ability to fully recover. Inflammation persists longer than it should, often becoming “stuck” around the sheath of the Achilles tendon, in the joint spaces of the knee and ankle, or behind the insertion of the iliotibial band.
How acupuncture helps
Acupuncture is effective for these types of injuries because the hair-thin needles can reach pockets of inflammation with a precision that no other modality matches. Acupuncture resolves any lingering inflammation, enabling your body to complete the healing process and restore full strength, mobility, and function to the injured tissue.
Not only can acupuncture resolve acute inflammation, but it also has an anti-inflammatory effect on the entire body. This causes a reduction in systemic inflammation and allows you to develop a healthier inflammatory response.
Tendon dysfunction
The problem
Runners often injure tendons because they increase their training loads too quickly. Connective tissues like tendons have a relatively poor blood supply and thus adapt at a much slower rate than muscles do.
Tendons are comprised of collagen fibers aligned in a specific direction in order to handle a specific stress. When we overload our tendons by running too many miles with poor biomechanics, the fibers become jumbled and stuck together, and scar tissue forms.
How acupuncture helps
Acupuncture is especially powerful in treating tendon injuries because needles bring circulation to areas with an otherwise limited blood supply. In particular, electroacupuncture, a combination of acupuncture and electro-stimulation, has been shown to increase the diameter, reorganization, and strength of a tendon’s collagen fibers.
Acupuncture also releases the excessive tension in muscles and fascia that are overloading the tendon in the first place. There is actually an acupuncture point specifically for promoting the health of tendons throughout your entire body.
Overtraining syndrome
The problem
Runners don’t like to hear this, but there is such a thing as running too much. If you are perpetually stressing the body faster than it can recover, you may develop symptoms of overtraining—fatigue, a depleted immune system, lack of concentration, poor sleep, and an inability to recover from workouts.
Extreme cases of this may lead to overtraining syndrome, which is a serious condition characterized by chronically elevated heart rate, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and depression. Your nervous system is essentially stuck in sympathetic overdrive (fight or flight), making you unable to relax, sleep, or properly recover.
How acupuncture helps
If you train hard, you need to rest harder. Acupuncture is one of the most effective ways to activate your parasympathetic nervous system—the part that allows you to rest, digest, and heal—helping you to relax fully and sleep deeply.
If you are a competitive athlete flirting with the line of overtraining, regular acupuncture is essential to ensure that your recovery is just as high quality as your workouts.
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Testimonials
I just wanted to send a short note to express a large thank you. I have suffered from bursitis (and some arthritis) in my hips for years. I have had physical therapy and many painful cortisone shots that help short term then the pain comes right back. While visiting my daughter I went to see her acupuncturist, Jenny. The treatment was like a miracle. My hip pain gone! I am back to exercising, and taking long walks, something I was... Read more »
Jenny Nieters and John Nieters are wonderful acupuncturists who take great care of their patients. Jenny has taken care of my achilles heel pain, lumbar pain, and diagnosed more accurately than others quadratus lumborum instability. John is extremely knowledgable about all things reproductive and brings a quiet nurturing atmosphere to his practice. I entrust these folks with my care wholeheartedly.
John and Jenny Nieters at Alameda Acupuncture are absolute gems.
I stumbled across John’s radio show, The Balancing Point, and had been a listener for a while when I decided to make an appointment. Years after having my son, my menstrual cycles never really came back and I was having lots of different symptoms that seemed to point to endocrine issues.
My first appointment with John was awesome. He spent at least two hours with me, talking and getting to
I have been a patient of John Nieters for many years. He is an amazing healer who has helped me though physical and emotional challenges. Dr. John is generous with his time and extremely knowledgeable. He is the first one whose opinion I seek when my health needs attention.
Last Spring after he assessed my shoulder and hip pain he recommended that Jenny treat me. This recurring pain had remained with me through several years of regular massage, regular chiropractic
Hi everyone!!! I have been anxious ( in a good way), to submit my testimonial regarding Dr. John and Jenny Nieters of Alameda Acupuncture!!!! THEY ARE FANTABULOUS /that means, fantastic and fabulous !!! I love them dearly. They are just very empathic, humble, very intelligent and down home folks.
I have been treating 12 weeks with Jenny Nieters. Her combination of Chinese Medicine with Acupuncture, is genius. She knows her stuff, 100%. She has such a sweet disposition, a
Calling all runners, learn how acupuncture can help you recover from common ailments and strengthen and stabilize your body mechanics. Great article by fellow sports medicine acupuncturist, Ginna Ellis.