Severe worsening of "back pain" symptoms after acupuncture

In such a unique and relatively complicated set of events it is difficult to offer much other than speculation without having seen you myself - but here is what I can say. First, acupuncture improperly or too strongly done can hurt you and there are reported and studied cases of nerve damage, muscle tears, organ punctures, etc. (mostly in China where these stronger techniques are more common). Strong techniques combined with electro-acupuncture can increase these risks. There is a myth to some degree in the acupuncture community and some "old-style" practitioners who stick strongly to it that acupuncture has to hurt to be effective - this is entirely incorrect. If the acupuncturist caused the damage, the type of damage that would have been done can be difficult to heal particularly if it was damage to the nerves (which may or may not fully repair - ever).

Your next response to the follow up acupuncture with a different practitioner is more interesting and I don't really have a good explanation for that. There are certainly times and places where peoples bodies want to hold certain patterns and they have unexpected reactions to the treatments. Normally these pass with or without the practitioner having to change anything in their point selection and/or adjunctive techniques (cupping, etc.). While acupuncture is generally very helpful for cases like yours (both before and after the initial over treatment), there are tremendous differences in skill levels, techniques, personalities, etc. amongst practitioners so your results may vary until you find the right mix. Personally I would probably try a good massage therapist with training in neuromuscular therapy (NMT) and trigger point therapy and look for an acupuncturist who practices Japanese acupuncture or at the very least a TCM one that has extensive experience with nerve damage (neuropathy patients, working with damage from surgeries, etc.).

Psoas is directly related to Kidneys.

I think you should know your own body.

If you had nerve injury, your best bet is homeopathy, your sx would determine the remedy required.

First, I am sorry to hear of your mothers trouble. Without knowing your mother personally and having treated her myself all I can add is speculation. Particularly without knowing all the points used and other techniques, if any, that were done. Along with my speculation I will add the caveat that I am in no way being defensive of the field of acupuncture even though my response could be taken that way. My only purpose in responding at all is to avoid people being unnecessarily scared of appropriate treatment for them from a post like yours.

I don&#39t doubt that in a completely complicated long term chronic case like your mothers that someone could make it worse, complications, however, are clinically and statistically extremely unlikely. When you say "it seems clear that it [acupuncture] triggered a level of agonizing pain" right after "She had two days of treatment, and was fine the next day. That night her hip pain increased dramatically, she was in agony, excruciating - to the point that even Oxycodone did not work and she was given opiates. " With someone as fragile is her, I really doubt you can truly make a "it seems clear" statement, particularly after a year plus long battle with pain and drug use. Nothing about this seems clear to me at all. Someone in that state just getting on and off the treatment table could cause an enormous amount of problems. So could feeling better and then over rotating or over using the joint. Also anything including muscle relaxers, pain killers, etc. can enable movement that wouldn&#39t be allowed by the tension controls of the body and pain signals.

If you read enough of my posts, I&#39m generally quite critical of many techniques utilized by professionals in my field, so I&#39m not being defensive of acupuncture. I&#39m also the first to jump in an say, yes I think what someone did to you was wrong. That said, there is no evidence that you have presented, and no reasonable clinical evidence, to support what you are implying. Acupuncture is used worldwide with millions of patients for all types of conditions, but pain is very, very commonly treated. There are well over 700 published studies for acupuncture related to hip/back pain treatment and none that I am aware of showed any complications. Some didn&#39t show great responses, but that is expected to appropriate degrees based on the aims of the study. But as far as true complications certainly my personal clinical work and these hundreds of studies do not indicate a potential for reactions like this.

Was the person your mother saw a fully trained and licensed acupuncturist, or some other health professional (PT, MD, etc.) who also "does acupuncture"? This can make a very serious difference. There are many reports of tissue damage, etc. with "dry needling" techniques, for example, that some PT&#39s are doing, with some calling it "acupuncture". These are very, very different things.

I recently had a similar experience. I had been going to this accupuncturist for3 yearsnow. It helped with depression. But I had been going for the last 6 months for a back injury. The symptoms were supposedly that of what the acupuncturist called a sciatica problem. In the last session he placed a needle that made me jump in pain. He took it out and did not touch that area again. The pain continued but evolved into a burning sensation with extreme pain thereafter. I did not relate to the acupuncture session till now. I have been laying on my back 3 weeks now to see if whatever is going on will heal. I'm seeing a pain management doctor and an MRI is next on the list. Could accupuncture made my back pain excalate to excrutiating pain like this?? I wonder if this sounds like nerve damage I can recover from. Any ideas? Gratefully looking for an answer and hope... Elizabeth G.

I came across this site in an effort to find out what happened to my body post accupuncture. I had an intensive accupuncture session as I suffer from chronic lower back pain. For the last two days I have felt excruciating pain in the area treated and am virtually bed bound. I wish with all my heart that I had done some research before the treatment as it has left me in the worst pain I have ever experienced. I just hope that perhaps others will research it better than I did and not go feet first into such an intensive session in the beginning. I am hoping that the pain will subside as the thoughts of dealing with this level of agony is unbearable.

Good day to you, Chad, Many thanks for your response. I will certainly absorb all you&#39ve had to say and sincerely appreciate your thoughts on my situation. I have to say that amongst all the websites I searched in help regarding my issue, this was the one that stood out as clear, simple and very helpful and I want to thank you for being such a good person in helping people without having to hand over credit card details.Best regards, to you. Jo

As a TCM acupuncturist I have treated many patients who came for lower back pain. None have experienced the problems which I have read about in this post.

It is extremely difficult to comment on the actions of other acupuncturists based on information (however detailed) given out in posts so I have nothing to add to the comments and replies already given. However, it does appear that many people are confused about acupuncture treatment. Many western medicine practitioner, osteopaths, physiotherapists and others linked with western medicine offer &#39acupuncture&#39 as an adjunct to their other regular treatments. Generally such treatments are based on trigger points or Ashi points (where the point that is painful is needled). As a TCM acupuncturist I consider such treatment as &#39dry needling&#39 and not &#39proper&#39 acupuncture.

I would encourage any readers who find themselves interested in the conditions described on this website and in this particular post to search out a professional acupuncturist who is a member of a recognised acupuncture organisation (in the UK the British Acupuncture Council is the largest). Doing so will ensure that the practitioner they visit will have been properly trained and has to comply with stringent regulations.

Any reader will please note that I am only referring to what happens in the UK - I have very little knowledge of other countries and their regulations in this respect.