Which treatment is better, acupuncture or massage

In fact, there is no saying that one of the two is better than the other. It all depends on the problem you encounter, and the one that adapts best is the best.

I met a programmer in his 20s at the outpatient clinic a while ago. He had stiff neck pain for a long time, and his neck was crooked and he dared not turn. His trapezius muscle was as hard as dried beef when I touched it. I originally planned to give him two quick injections, but he was so frightened that he waved his hands and said he was afraid of the pain. He asked the masseur next to him to massage him for fifteen minutes, loosening the tense muscles and adhering fascia. After the massage, he could turn his neck on the spot, with 70% to 80% of the pain gone, and he went back to work without skipping a beat. Do you think massage is better than acupuncture in this situation?

But there are also cases where massage is not possible. Last month, an aunt had a lumbar protrusion that pressed on the sciatic nerve. The pain lasted for almost three months and she was limping when walking. I massaged the massage parlor near my home almost ten times. Each time, I felt comfortable for two hours. At night, the pain was so bad that I couldn't sleep. I evaluated her and found that the tender points were particularly deep, which was caused by edema and compression of the nerve roots. Muscle relaxation cannot solve the deep-seated problems, so I pricked her at Jiaji, Huantiao, and Weizhong acupoints, and also added electroacupuncture. After the first prick, she said that the pulling pain in her leg was much lighter. After three consecutive pricks, she basically stopped walking lamely. At this time, the deep penetration advantage of acupuncture cannot be compared with massage.

Speaking of which, I talked about this topic with Lao Zhou from the massage department last week. He usually sees a lot of patients with muscle strains and acute sprains and contusions. He always said that massage does not require breaking the skin and is highly receptive to patients. He works directly on the tense soft tissues, and the effect of loosening adhesions and straightening out the tendons is visible. It can be touched; but the old director of our department prefers acupuncture, saying that when it comes to nerve entrapment and functional problems such as perennial dysmenorrhea, functional indigestion, and stubborn insomnia, acupuncture follows the meridians and can directly regulate nerve and endocrine status, which is a level that massage cannot reach.

To use an inappropriate analogy, massage is like loosening the soil in a crop field. The hardening and small soil clods on the surface can be removed with a rake. If you have superficial muscle soreness, lactic acid accumulation after exercise, or ordinary neck and shoulder strain, find a reliable masseur to complete the massage. , you can get a lot of relief in the same day; but if the problem lies "underground", such as deep nerve root compression, Qi and blood stasis, or organ dysfunction, you have to use acupuncture, a thin drill, to accurately deliver stimulation to the location of the lesion, in order to solve the problem from the root.

Of course, there are many people who dispute the two. Some people think that acupuncture requires breaking the skin. If the disinfection is not in place, it is easy to get infected. It may even pierce the internal organs if it is not done well, so it is not as safe as massage. Some people complain that many massage parlors have not received professional training. If they randomly press the cervical and lumbar spine, it is easy to cause problems. The risks are not as controllable as acupuncture. In fact, these concerns are all valid, but the prerequisite is to find professionals from formal institutions to operate, otherwise all treatments will be in vain.

If you are really confused about which one to choose, it is better to ask a doctor for an evaluation first to see whether your problem is superficial or deep, whether it is a muscle and soft tissue problem or a neurological or functional problem. Choosing the right adaptation method will naturally provide the best results.