I have successfully treated a lot of patients with back pain, knee joints pain, shoulder, wrist, feet pain by acupuncture. Some patients have enough knowledge to find an alternative way to get help when their doctors put them on drugs or told them to do surgery. But some patients did not have the knowledge, so they did what their doctor told them: drugs and surgeries. 

After surgery some patients did get great relief and resume normal functions, some patients whose pain still remained, sometime patients even felt the pain was worse than before. Then they felt there is no way to go except keep adding pain pills or redo surgery, patient have to live on the pain medicine because of the bad cycle, after the surgery and pain medicine does not work, patients felt frustrated and most of them will suffer depression from those chronic pain and desperate situation.

After they have run out of choice this time they might think about alternative treatments such as acupuncture. However after surgery if patients’ pain or movement range did not get improved it will be difficult to be treated by acupuncture. Because surgery can cause intensive damage to body, after surgery it left scar tissue, nerves and neurovascular damaged, adhesions etc., in Chinese medicine view, surgery also will cause blood loss and Qi deplete, it damaged body Yuan Qi, Yuan Qi is the key energy to help body heal.So my suggestion to people is always first to try non-invasive way to treat neck, back, joints problems before they choose to do surgery.

During my twenty- five years clinic practice, I have helped a lot of patients to avoid or delay their surgeries for their neck, back, joints problems.  Some patients their doctors even  told them to do joints replacement  few years ago, they come for acupuncture treatment, it keeps them from the pain and staying with their daily activities. When they go back to do check up their orthopedist doctors surprised with their joints did not got worn out like they thought should be.

Please do not get me wrong, I do not against people to do surgery when they absolutely needed. I just suggested people thought over when you decided to do surgeries. I highly respect surgeons, they are very important in our life. Actually my father was a surgeon, I remember when I was young I watched him performed some surgeries, I was amazed how much a surgeon was able to do. I also remember my father told me “after the cut was made their is no way to go back as it is used to be, so never ever have surgery done unless you are absolutely needed. “ I do not understand why that time until I went to medical school and learned Chinese medicine.
©Dr. Li Zhang