When Bill came to see me he stated that he had suffered from elbow pain for many months. Before his retirement he had worked in a warehouse, where he had to move things around, most likely he had lifted something heavy while working, which caused the strain and pain.
“Hardly noticeable first, the elbow joint pain became later unbearable, particularly at night after I had worked in the garden or carried heavy bags of groceries. The joints felt burning and were slightly swollen.
Visits to the doctor brought no relief. I tried painkillers and anti-inflammatory medications, to no avail. I could not lift grocery bags or my knapsack with such extreme pain.
After using the D.I.Y. Acupuncture stones in one treatment only, I had immediate relief. After eight treatments, the pain was totally gone.
I can lift heavy bags and objects with no problems. I recommend the holistic healing disks unequivocally. I continue to use them once a week to maintain a pain -free existence.”
Elbow Pain is often a result of an injury
Any kind of physical work where you have to lift or have repetitive movements of the arms such as moving things, plumbing, bricklaying etc. can cause strain with small tears in the tendons of the forearm.
This can happen in sports i.e. baseball, golf or tennis – that is why elbow pain is often referred to as a tennis elbow.
When the tendons are strained in a sudden movement you may experience a slight pain as it happens, and not using the elbow for a few days allows the self-healing energy of the body to take care of it.
If you suffer from an acute strain that causes minor elbow pain to apply ice pack on it immediately and use the joint as little as possible for a few days so that natural healing can take place.
Only after the tendons are totally healed should you start rebuilding the strength of the elbow.
However, if the condition is not treated, inflammation with calcium and mineral deposits can develop in the joints, which of course makes the pain worse. Neglecting to take care of the first signs can lead to serious problems.
Earlier injuries can later develop into osteoarthritis, a progressive disease which affects body joints. The cartilage breaks down and the loose bits of tissue cause inflammation, pain and poor function of the joint.
Ancient Acupuncture and Elbow Pain
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, any pain is a signal that Chi energy or/and blood are blocked, not moving in their natural way. Acupuncture helps increase and regulate movement within the energy and neural channels.
The results are often astounding, therefore Acupuncture has become a treatment of choice as alternative pain relief. The healing stones work on the ancient Acupuncture Principles.
In Bill’s case, Nano Acupuncture opened up the natural flow of energy and blood, flushing out the debris that had collected around and between the bones. This way the underlying problem was cleared, and the elbow pain was permanently erased.
Chinese Medicine provides an effective Sciatica Pain Relief
We experience painful sciatica pain when the sciatic nerve becomes irritated or inflamed.
Usually affecting only one side of the body, sciatica back pain radiates to the hips and down along the back or side of a leg, in severe cases all the way to the ankle even toes.
This kind of back and leg pain can be burning and sharp, but it can also be dull, making some areas feel numb, and there could be difficulty in controlling movement.
Sciatica symptoms can be constant or occasional, and is often affected by damp and cold weather.
Acupuncture for Sciatica Pain
Not as analytical as Western Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) aims to penetrate into the cause of pain as well as the person’s environment in order to understand and treat any pain or disease.
We ask, Is this Internal or External condition, is it Hot or Cold, Excess or Deficiency, and finally how do the symptoms relate to the overall Yin/Yang state of the person, since the ultimate goal is to establish complete balance for the whole being?
By visiting a well-trained Chinese Medicine doctor in your area you could learn about your body’s strengths and weaknesses. By asking questions you would know which of the patterns of disharmony is predominant in your particular situation and could receive further suggestions for your sciatica pain.
Patients who present lumbago or sciatica symptoms in a TCM clinic are usually diagnosed as suffering from a type or a combination of the following Bi syndromes:
Wandering Bi, which relates to wind
Painful Bi, which relates to cold
Fixed Bi, which relates to dampness
Febrile Bi, which relates to heat and feverish conditions
All of them involve blocking or slowing down the Chi or/and blood flow, often in the lower half of the body. Weakness and/or a serious injury to the back are often important factors underlying a sciatica pain. Since ancient times Bi syndromes have been considered to be the influences of cold, damp, and wind. Because this kind of lower back pain’s tendency is to radiate down the leg, the condition is frequently attributed to a combination of cold and damp, which are Yin factors with a natural downward course.
Wind, as an external pathogenic factor, contributes to the wandering nature of the pain, particularly if the surface Chi or vital energy of the body is weak. Kidney ‘domain’, which includes all urinary and sexual functions as well as the bone marrow and the brain, is the foundation of life according to TCM. These functions can become weakened, and what is first Kidney Chi deficiency can develop into Kidney Yang deficiency seriously upsetting the Yin/Yang balance of the whole body. This happens usually by a loss of sperm through excessive sex (in men) or other factors and advancing age in both genders. The body may not be able to ward off the cold and damp affecting the lower body, therefore creating a Yin excessive condition, which for the lack of movement ‘stagnates’. In this case, the external wind may not be the main factor, but with cold and damp can exacerbate it and make it appear as if the symptoms wander.
Finding relief is our number one priority when experiencing any kind of pain whether it is acute, chronic or episodic. And today many people search for alternatives to prescription drugs for sciatica pain relief. Acupuncture is a growing trend. As a part of TCM practice, the art of acupuncture involves unblocking Chi, the body’s Vital Energy Force that flows through channels continuously. If Chi is blocked or weak, physical or mental illness develops. The purpose of acupuncture is to restore a healthy flow of Chi throughout the body in order to have perfect balance and harmony in all its functions. In the case of sciatica symptoms, when the channels are opened they have their natural warmth, the dampness is overcome and the whole body strengthened to withstand wind, cold and damp.
A new Nano Acupuncture is a non-invasive, gentle therapy for the clinic or home use. This acute and chronic pain relief system utilizes Tourmaline stone treated with nanotechnology and was developed, tested and is already used in many hospitals in China. These remarkable stones are designed to replace needles in acupuncture. When used according to the accompanying instructions the Holistic Healing Disks:
Are easy to use
Are safe
Are convenient
Are effective
Are non-invasive
Are Economical
Have no side effects
Are portable
The healing Disks offer a natural pain relief including for lower back and hip pain because they can be applied locally to the painful areas in addition to using them according to the acupuncture theory.
Not losing their potency, they last for years and their use can alleviate most disharmonies, including many stress-related illnesses such as anxiety, insomnia, depression etc.
Chinese Healing Herbs for Lumbago and Sciatica Pain
Herbal Remedies as a sciatica pain relief target to warm the kidney yang, to dispel cold, to clear dampness by invigorating the spleen function and to resolve the overall wind-cold-damp influence.
There are many useful anti-rheumatic herbs and certain ones are especially good in lumbago and sciatica treatment. One of the formulas containing them is ‘Du Huo Ji Sheng Wan’. You may purchase it from a Chinese Herbalist, who may suggest others especially suited for your needs.
Other painful conditions of the lower limbs, such as gout and knee arthralgia are treated with similar herbs and formulations.
Many patent formulas are now available from North American manufacturers. Please see the recommendations below.
DMSO is a Western natural product used topically. Gently rub a few drops of it to the painful area. Penetrating through the skin, it flushes out toxins and excess fluids, therefore easing the pain.
The experience of a typical sciatica pain on the right side of my body stretched over a period of several years. Most of the time my lower back and leg pain was agonizing and I had to be super careful to keep my back, hip and leg warm at all times.
Searching for Pain Relief
When young, I was an avid cross country skier and remember having several minor accidents where I landed on my tail bone. I believe that those experiences were the beginning of my lower back pain, which through the years developed into a herniated disk and full-blown sciatica.
I searched and used many forms of therapy, particularly natural pain relief with Acupuncture and Chinese healing herbs, but the pain kept coming back when the weather was cold and damp. I had to be careful and use the above methods as soon as the first symptoms emerged.
Sciatica Exercises
As in any form of back pain therapy, it is important for you to know what the cause of sciatica is before you design an exercise program. After the diagnostic assessment, an acupuncturist or a physiotherapist can be of help.
In my case I learned that moving and doing exercises is better than bed rest. My choice was to incorporate a few Yoga stretches into my Non-invasive Acupuncture and Chi Kung self-healing program. This combination was helpful for many years.
A Small Surgery to Relieve Pain.
As I mentioned earlier, the cause of my pain was a herniated disc pressing on the root of the sciatic nerve. Finally, a micro-operation was done, which relieved the pressure and pain. For this, I am extremely thankful to our Western medicine and the skillful surgeon who performed the task!
Just in case you or your loved ones back and leg pain are caused by a herniated or a degenerative disc, have this checked out by an MRI or X-ray. If your doctor recommends a micro-operation, please consider it for it is a safe, one-day procedure which can make you permanently free of sciatica.
Suggestions
My body is still sensitive to cold and damp, and I continue to use the DIY acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, but now as a strengthening and preventive measure. This way my body stays completely pain-free and supple, I don’t get colds, I have good stamina, and I am happy. And I wish the same to you!
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the kidneys are the foundation of life. As we get older the aches and pains we experience are usually associated with Kidney Yin and/or Yang weakness.
One or a few visits to a well trained Chinese Medicine doctor in your area could give you an understanding of your body’s strengths and weaknesses. By asking questions you would know which of the patterns of disharmony are predominant in your particular situation and learn about the needle-less acupuncture for healing and rejuvenation.
Please read and purchase our strategies and tools, which will enable you to live in glorious freedom from all pain. Click to see the program outline:
The complex Chi Energy systems operating relentlessly within us determine our awareness and our health; they affect everything we do, think and feel.
When we feel exhausted after long days of work, has the energy disappeared? Of course not, for energy never disappears, it only changes its way of functioning. What has happened then?
By learning to understand and work with the awesome Chi systems of our bodies and know how they relate to the outer cosmos, we can learn to be in charge of them. We then know exactly what happened and are able to free and transform the stuck energies in order for them to flow naturally once more.
Chi is one with the Fundamental Substances of the body. Their English translations Energy, Essence, Spirit, Blood and Fluids are only approximations of their Chinese meaning, which defines five fundamental properties inherent within us.
Why Chi, not Energy?
In practice, the term Chi is used in preference to Energy since the latter in Western languages implies energy as opposed to matter. In TCM energy-matter is a continuum, Chi having both energetic and material attributes.
Within the Chi systems some Chis are Yin, most are Yang in their characteristics, yet Chi means a tendency to, as well as motion itself. In general, the term Chi is for the functional, active aspect of the body.
Discomfort and certain symptoms appear when the Chi system is out of balance. Therefore different manifestations of Chi are examined and measured in diagnosis.
Jing Chi’s many Functions within the Chi systems
Jing or Source Chi provides the basis for all the functional activities of the channels. This essential Chi is one with the universal Generative Force – Wu Chi, which underlies all life in Creation with Its unfathomable Power and Intelligence.
In the human body, Jing is thought of as fluid-like, it is nutritive and supportive. It activates harmonious transformation throughout the Chi systems and controls growth, reproduction and development.
And it holds the secret of the physiological mechanism or Generative Force for the human brain’s transformation and expansion of consciousness.
Jing, as the ‘Essence of Human Nature’ is the basis for all movement and takes on characteristics according to the needs of the body.
It manifests as Organ Chi for organ functions, Channel Chi for transporting and moving functions, Nourishing Chi for transforming and creating blood as well as for helping the blood to nourish the tissues of the body.
Protective Chi warms and travels between the skin and the flesh. It regulates the opening and closing of the pores therefore, protects the body from external pathogenic influences, and it moistens the skin and hair.
Shen or Ancestral Chi
Ancestral Chi or Shen collects in the chest and underlies breathing and speaking, it regulates the beating of the Heart and is important in clarifying the Spirit and strengthening the body when cultivated in meditation.
According to Neijing the Spirit of the Heart or Shen rules the mental and creative functions.
The spirit of the Liver rules the nervous system and gives rise to the extrasensory perception.
Spirit of the Spleen rules logic or reasoning power.
Spirit of the Lungs rules animistic instincts, physical strength and stamina.
Spirit of the Kidneys rules the will, drive, ambition and survival instinct.
The Birth of Yin and Yang
In order to understand how these various qualities of Chi relate to the greater cosmos, it is important to learn about Chinese cosmology.
Wu-Chi, which underlies all living phenomena of the universe is the manifestation of the Generative Will of the Source and is One with Motion, the first law in Creation.
The original Loving Source Radiation, being one with the Will to Create, became receptive Yin, the transcendental Feminine Principle. Through Her, the brilliantly and creatively acting Will – Yang, became the Masculine Principle.
Carried by the Power of the original Radiation, the receptive Yin substance and the dynamically penetrating Yang manifest the great Law of Love – Tao – in forever re-birthing Creation.
The masculine and feminine qualities or Yin and Yang are eternally one with the Primal Intelligence, God or Wu, the original Intention and the guiding Principle of all that exists.
Truane Wu Chi, the Original Vital Energy
All the universes are created out of this Triune Wu Chi, the original Vital Energy. This continual forming works harmoniously in most spheres of Creation creating new combinations of love and beauty through cyclic radiations and in the rhythmic way of Tao.
On the material level, we can observe WuChi in Five Phases of Nature through birth, growth and development, even through decay in plants and animals.
Nature follows the great Tao or Law of Love. Only, when disturbed by wrongly directed human free will do things go wrong. And this has been going on for millenniums – the humans have subjugated their free will to their limited intellect instead of following the guidance of the Source Intelligence accessible through intuition and commitment to the universal Laws.
Ming, the Royal Command or Destiny
The impersonal and original Triune, the sub-stratum of Life (Ming – royal command or destiny) is in every cell.
In the human body it is called Jing and while impersonal, it is receptive (Yin) compared to Wu Chi, dynamically active (Yang) and observable in the harmonious nature.
Jing is based in the kidney domain as the Essence of Life and as a potent source of original Power, the Generative Force (Kundalini).
When Jing Chi is consciously cultivated with Shen Chi (spirit) through disciplined meditations and virtues, it rises as ‘the fiery Dragon’ to the brain.
New neural pathways are built, through which dormant areas of the brain are awakened. When awake, they reveal a new level of consciousness filled with blissfulness, clarity and creativity of a genius, and ultimately cosmic consciousness – the great AHA!
