Updated 20/01/2021:
I want to share some of my insights over the years of treating shoulder pain. Subacromial bursitis or rotator cuff tear/tendinopathy on scans does not necessarily mean that is the cause of your shoulder pain. I’ve seen a lot of subacromial bursitis on ultrasounds and many of these patients have NO pain. The same goes with rotator cuff tears. In fact, I have an elderly lady with a full thickness tear that had absolutely normal range of motion. ‘Shoulder bursitis / rotator cuff tear’ pain is not as clear is it may seem and one has to consider the possibility of an alternate diagnosis. This may be referred pain from elsewhere to the shoulder or nerve pain of the shoulder itself among the myriad of other causes.
I have the luxury in acupuncture in being able to diagnose quickly by treatment response. When I apply the laser acupuncture points for musculoskeletal shoulder pain, I expect SOME improvement to either the pain or the range of motion right away. That’s how quick correctly applied laser acupuncture can work for pain. If that doesn’t happen, I have either missed my points or I am treating the wrong diagnosis. I may then trial a point for neck pain, or shoulder nerve pain to see whether the pain/movement is any better – so on and so forth. Once treated for the right diagnosis, the pain often goes away or is greatly improved.
So if you have ‘shoulder bursitis / rotator cuff tear’ on scans but it doesn’t seem to be getting better with conventional treatment, you should probably be re-evaluated for another cause of your pain before considering surgery as the final step.
Of course there are the clear cut cases of subacromial bursitis / rotator cuff tendinopathy that respond marvellously to laser acupuncture and/or conventional treatment as is the case below.
Case:
I saw a female patient who was delighted to inform me that her acute subacromial bursitis was resolved after ONE treatment of laser acupuncture. She had an acute injury after some awkward and vigorous use of her shoulder to only 2-3 days prior. This was confirmed by shoulder ultrasound.
Subacromial bursitis is the inflammation of the lubricating pad that is located within your shoulder muscles. It acts to helps to help the shoulder muscles glide over one another smoothly. When inflamed, it causes pain with all shoulder movements, as well as pain when lying on the affected shoulder.
When I first saw her, she was in significant discomfort. I offered her the conventional treatment which is physiotherapy with anti-inflammatory pain medications. I also applied laser acupuncture on distal points * (points away from the actual shoulder) around her forearms and and a point on her scalp. Yes, I did not need to actually use any local shoulder points.
There was perhaps a slight reduction in pain immediately which indicated that I had found the right point. During the rest of the day, her shoulder remained in pain. However, the next morning she woke with 95% improvement to her right shoulder. The day after it was 100%! She did not require any further treatment.
She did not end up needing any anti-inflammatories or physiotherapy . Usually I add laser acupuncture in CONJUNCTION with physiotherapy and anti-inflammatories. She was an extremely strong responder to laser acupuncture and did require it. Her body was able to heal itself with the right instructions given by acupuncture. Most cases would require around 3-4 laser acupuncture treatments to achieve this result and usually even more treatments in chronic cases.
This gives you a bit of an idea about the potential of acupuncture – especially in musculoskeletal disorders.
*The body is HIGHLY connected more than we currently realise. Finding the right point away from the site of inflammation, we are able to tell the body to send healing and anti-inflammatory factors to the site of problem – the shoulder in this case.
