Acute Neck Pain
A 44 year old female presents with acute neck and back pain that started 1-2 weeks ago. She only found partial relief with things like Theragun, Motrin, Icy Hot, and Massages.
Main Signs/Symptoms:
Sharp and achey pain that started at a 8-9/10 but reduced down to 4/10 with above modalities; would not budge from there
Pain is sharper in the morning but overall, dull and achey
Patient also presented with:
Hypothyroidism that is managed
Dry, itchy, red skin that feels sensitive
Achey muscles in her upper back
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Dates of treatment:
5/2/25: Felt relaxed post-treatment.
5/7/25: Neck and back felt “amazing” since last treatment. There was no pain the morning after treatment. Neck is at a 2/10 tightness, no pain.
5/12/25: Stopped taking Aleve after first appt and hasn't taken it since. Neck is only achey/tension now and is a 2/10 which she said is her normal level of tension. No pain.
5/19/25: Neck pain is gone. Just has her usual 1/10 tension from work. Continues to come for tx bc it helps keep her neck feeling good and she also feels more grounded and calm.
Key takeaways:
Sometimes, treatment can provide relief in as little as one time.
Repetitive motions can build up over time. This patient has a job that lends itself to neck strain. Continuing to show up maintains our progress on her neck and relieves stress.
Although this patient has a presenting pattern that is specific to her (LV/KD Yin deficiency, etc.), we can feed two birds with one scone and incorporate that into the treatment for acute neck pain.
Some of the commonly used points in her treatments: K6, K7, Linggu, Dabai, H7, Shenguan, Wanshuner, Wanshunyi