left intercostal pain

At first glance this sounds like slipped rib syndrome (cyriax syndrome).  Being a syndrome the causes are of course not well isolated, but generally if not from an outright injury, it's often from looser cartilage.  For "local needling" - it might be helpful to know exactly what you have tried, but more than likely, needling at the cause of pain (ie in the front of the body) is very unlikely to help much.  Herbally, if it's a fit diagnostically, perhaps something like du huo ji sheng wan may be helpful to nourish the tendons (or other blood/yin builders if appropriate).  Acupuncture treatment wise, I would first consider, as always, treating her overall diagnosis - likely blood/yin deficiency and ensuring that each treatment includes points from that angle.  Then for the localized issue, I would focus more on the huatuo points above and at the most affected areas - the idea here is to nourish the cartilage/tendons/improve circulation in the area so the ribs are less hypermobile (if that is what is happening).