Dislocated Shoulder

It is hard to answer questions of this nature that are so generalized. There are many types of dislocations, all can be helped with acupuncture and associated therapies (moxibustion, cupping, tuina, herbs, etc.) but some are strong candidates for surgery first and then healing and strengthening with Chinese Medicine. Also there would be differences in the treatment points you would choose based on the nature of the trauma, the age and overall condition of the patient, etc.

Acupuncture has very good results across the board with any pain case, particularly when used along with its associated techniques.

To generally answer your question, yes, treating a dislocation would involve many of the same points that you would use to treat any shoulder problem. So to start, those points listed for arthritis of the shoulder within the acupuncture for arthritis section would be a broad framework, particularly points such as SI 12 and ST 38. There are also a couple extra points worth mentioning/trying for shoulder issues - one is "Zhongping" which is found 1 cun below ST 36 and the other is called Lingxia which is found 2 cun below GB 34. Tuina in the neck and shoulder area would be appropriate to loosen the resulting tension from the injury - done with the intent of letting the dislocation settle in. Cupping around the shoulder joint to reduce the inflammation and improve mobility would be used judiciously initially - but generally with great benefit. Moxibustion, for blood stagnation in the area would also be called for in deficient type patients particularly.

As for treatment frequency (what I'm assuming you meant by duration) - for highly acute injuries you would treat 2-3/x week if possible - for cases more mild/chronic in nature weekly should be sufficient. All in all, with 3-9 treatments the condition should improve significantly if not be resolved (minus the longer term effect of injuries like this and the strengthening and conditioning that has to happen to avoid re-injurying the area).