Clinical experience and manual technique of cervical spondylosis treating

with acupuncture

Liu Bao-ku

Cervical spondylosis is the illness of cervical spine and soft tissues (intervertebral disc, muscle, fascia, vascular, tendon, ligament, joint capsule, nerve, etc.), and manifest a series of clinical symptoms and signs. The author considered that from the definition we could understand it first pathological change and corresponding symptom is from soft tissue injury. So we should not only emphasize on spines, but surrounding soft tissue plays a key role. Acute and chronic injury both lead to strain, exudation, hyperplasia, adhesion, spasm and distortion of neck muscle and fascia, which enhance intervertebral pressure, cause metabolism disorders and depress vessels, so qi stagnation and blood stasis leads to cervical spondylosis. Basing on autopsy studies, the author found it is possible to cure cervical spondylosis with releasing acupuncture which will reverse the degenerative of muscle and fascia.

Clinical types and experience acupuncture manual techniques of cervical spondylosis:

(1) Focus on local tenderness point and the differentiation between original and secondary lesions, it will achieve accurate mechanical damage of lesions and eliminate pains. Emphasis on treatment to muscle tension and spasm, break vicious cycle for timely cure, prevent the development of a chronic and recurrent disease.

(2) Eliminate the adverse factors of central nervous system which involved in the abnormal accumulation of chronic injury.

(3) To those cross-complex of local tenderness and the central nervous system adverse effects, we should focus on one side and treat other side at the same time. Mechanical damage of tenderness lesions maybe is the effective mechanism of treatment, which include damage of high sensitivity nerve end. The main therapeutic principle is focusing on tenderness point.

Overall, all the above-mentioned tenderness points lesions therapy is to local lesions, but there are also poor effect and repeat problem, there are still nervous system problems. Treatment away from tenderness point is the adjustment of the central nervous system excitation and inhibition to release pains. In short, in the treatment of cervical and lumber pain, surrounding local tenderness point and abnormal excitability of central nervous system are the main two points.