Sometimes progress happens so gradually that you don’t notice it right away. Then one day you realize you haven’t reached for your pain patch. You’re able to stay on your feet longer. Or you look at the clock and discover you just slept five hours without waking.
That’s what happened for one patient in his 70s after a course of acupuncture treatments.
He originally came to acupuncture for chronic neck and upper back pain, especially a persistent painful area along his left shoulder and upper back. He also had lower back pain that made walking increasingly difficult.
While his pain was relatively manageable at rest, physical activity caused it to increase. He relied on pain-relieving patches every day to help him function. His lower back pain also meant that after about 10 minutes of walking, he needed to stop and rest.
Sleep was another challenge. Frequent nighttime trips to the bathroom associated with an existing kidney condition meant he typically slept only 2 to 2½ hours at a time.
Then He Started Noticing Things Were Different
Over the course of 10 acupuncture treatments, he began sharing changes that surprised him. One of the biggest was realizing that he was no longer using his pain patches.
He was also able to stay up and moving for approximately 30 minutes at a time instead of just 10.
He wasn't completely pain-free, but something important had changed. Previously, the longer he walked or moved, the more his pain would build until he had to stop. Now, he could remain active longer without the pain continuing to escalate.
His chronic upper shoulder and back discomfort was also consistently feeling better and staying at a much lower level.
And then there was his sleep.
He began telling me about waking during the night, looking at the clock, and being surprised to discover that he had slept for about five hours straight. For someone accustomed to sleeping only 2 to 2½ hours at a stretch, that was a significant improvement.
More Than a Pain Number
This is one of the things I appreciate about acupuncture. I’m not simply treating the place that hurts—I’m looking at how that pain is affecting the whole person.
How well are you moving? How are you sleeping? What has pain stopped you from doing?
For this patient, progress meant less pain, no longer relying on pain patches, being able to stay active longer, and getting longer stretches of sleep. Sometimes success isn't simply having less pain. It's realizing you're getting back some of the things pain had quietly taken away from you.
If chronic pain is beginning to limit what you can do, acupuncture may be worth exploring.
Schedule a FREE consultation to find out if acupuncture could help you feeling better, too!
Individual responses to acupuncture vary. This story describes one patient's experience and is not intended to guarantee or predict results for others.