Which treatment effect is better, acupuncture or massage

There is really no one who is absolutely better than the other. They are both classic methods of external treatment in traditional Chinese medicine. The difference in effect is never a problem with the method itself. It all depends on the corresponding disease, the operator's skills, and even the patient's own tolerance.

I treated a 28-year-old programmer a while ago. He slept crookedly on the sofa for half the night while he stayed up late to revise the plan. When he woke up in the morning, his neck was so crooked that it felt as if the freeze button had been pressed. He had to move his entire upper body to turn around, and he grimaced in pain. He was afraid of needles, and his legs felt weak when he saw them, so I didn’t force him. I pressed the trigger points on his trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles for 5 minutes, and gently pulled the small joints. He was able to turn his neck left and right on the spot, and 80% of the pain was immediately eliminated. For his situation, the effect of massage is much better than acupuncture.

But massage is not an advantage for all problems. The 52-year-old aunt who came last week had a lumbar disc herniation that pressed on her nerve root. She suffered from sciatic nerve pain for almost two months. She had to hold on to the wall when walking. She had been massaged at a massage parlor in front of her home for almost a week. She felt comfortable for two hours each time. After the pressure passed, the pain became more severe. This kind of pain caused by deep nerve root stimulation makes it difficult for the massage force to accurately penetrate into the compressed area. Instead, it is easy to aggravate soft tissue edema due to incorrect massage force. I inserted the Huantiao, Weizhong, and Yaoyangguan acupuncture points on her, and left the electroacupuncture with weak current for 20 minutes. When the acupuncture was started, she stood holding the chair for a long time. She said that it really didn't hurt much. She tried to take two steps without help. At this time, the targeted advantage of acupuncture became apparent.

There are indeed different opinions in the industry. Some doctors who practice acupuncture feel that massage can only relax superficial muscles and cannot cure deep-seated inflammation and nerve stimulation. Master massage practitioners also feel that acupuncture is invasive and prone to accidents such as needle fainting and needle stagnation. It is highly comfortable and long-lasting for problems such as muscle strain. In fact, both of these opinions are a bit biased. When I meet patients with chronic lumbar myofasciitis, I usually recommend two injections to eliminate the deep aseptic inflammation, and then use massage twice a week to relax the tense muscle tension. When the two are combined, the recovery speed is much faster than either method alone.

Having been in this business for almost ten years, I have encountered quite a lot of patients who are desperate. Some people insist on acupuncture even though they are suitable for massage, but they faint and cannot recover from the needles for half an hour. After all, there is no distinction between these two methods. If you choose the right disease and find the right reliable operator, the results will be the same. There is really no need to argue over which one is better.