This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Chronic Pain Is A Pain In The Butt. Acupuncture Can Poke At It!

Eastern Medical Center's doctors uses acupuncture to activate the body's natural healing functions to get rid of Chronic Pain.

Pain is a way of communication that your body is telling you something is wrong, whether you fell down and scraped your knee or lifted something too heavy and blew out your back. The feeling of pain comes from pain receptors or nerves located throughout the body and when you are injured, those pain receptors will send messages in a form of an electrical signal to the brain to let you know that you are hurt. Whatever it is, your body will heal itself and the pain will usually go away. Chronic pain, however, does not. Whether we get older or get injured, these message channels become damaged and can no longer communicate with the brain. Whatever it is, if it's your body having trouble healing your injury or you healed from your injuries, these pain receptors will continue to send signals to your brain telling you that you are still injured. Your body will be in pain for weeks, months, or even years.


Eastern Medical Center, Acupuncture, Cupping, Teresa Shen
Eastern Medical Center's Teresa Shen healing Chronic Pain with Cupping

Cupping therapy is an ancient Chinese healing method that has been used to relieve both acute and chronic pain, dating back to 1000 BC and potentially even earlier than that. With cupping, most practitioners will place a cup over a flame for a fraction of a second to create a vacuum. The practitioner will then place the cup on the surface of the skin which will cause suction of the muscle into the cup. This method of cupping will enhance blood circulation, clear blockages, help relieve muscle pain, move lymphatic fluid, and cleanse the body of toxins. Cupping is proven to prevent flare ups and reduce severity of chronic pain symptoms and in most cases, completely cure chronic pain from patients. Cupping has many other uses such as giving deep tissue massages, relieving muscle tension, preventing injuries, maximizing a work out, or, as Draymond Green from the Oakland Warriors did, a quicker recovery from an NBA final's game to prepare for the next. Check out the video below of Oakland Warrior's 2 time NBA Champion, Draymond Green and how he recover from game 3 of the finals.


Video of Oakland Warrior's 2 time NBA Champion, Draymond Green recovering with Acupuncture, Cupping, and Moxa

Chronic pain can also be treated with Active Release Therapy. Active Release Therapy is the practice of manual therapy for the recovery of soft tissue function that involves the removal of scar tissue. Scar tissue can cause chronic pain, stiffness, muscle weakness, and muscle dysfunction. Active Release Therapy is known to, but not limited to, treating chronic pain of carpal tunnel, achilles tendonitis, tennis elbow, neck pain, back pain, shoulder pain, and lower back pain. The removal of scar tissue will increase your joint mobilization, range of motion, increase blood flow, and even clear chronic pain symptoms.

Find out what's happening in Livermorefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Active Release Therapy, Eastern Medical Center
Eastern Medical Center's Active Release Therapist, Clinton Muhammad, healing Chronic Back Pain of a patient through Active Release Technique

Acupuncture is a form of Traditional Chinese Medicine that is 3,500 years older than Western medicine. Using super fine hair like thin needles, acupuncturists will insert these needles into precisely located points on the body. Unlike mainstream painkillers, which target the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord) and numbs them temporarily where pain is perceived, acupuncture targets the root of the cause; the peripheral nerves in the rest of the body. These needles will activate the body’s natural healing functions and send the body’s natural healing chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins to heal the body of chronic pain. These natural body chemicals will also repair the message channels to let your brain know that you are no longer injured.

According to the National Institute of Health, a number of studies suggest that acupuncture works particularly well on chronic pain such as back pain, neck pain, osteoarthritis, knee pain, and headaches. It often reduces the incidence and severity of tension headaches and may prevent migraines. The National Institute of Health concludes "acupuncture appears to be a reasonable option for people with chronic pain to consider."

Find out what's happening in Livermorefor free with the latest updates from Patch.


Eastern Medical Center Acupuncture Eric Wei Wang
Eastern Medical Center's Chronic Pain Specialist Eric Wei Wang healing Chronic Back Pain with Acupuncture and Electric Stimulation


Eastern Medical Center was founded in 1982 in Livermore by Mason Shen. Mason and a few other dedicated acupuncturist at the time, bought much attention to acupuncture and made a movement to what we know of acupuncture as what it is today. Unfortunately in 2007, Mason Shen passed away and left his legacy to his daughter, Teresa Shen. Since then, Dr. Shen has revolutionized the practice of Acupuncture and has move the practice to Pleasanton to a larger facility on Coronado Lane to sustain the up and coming alternative medicine industry. Eastern Medical Center now employs 5 Acupuncturist who all specializes in their own unique style and techniques, 2 Massage Acupressurist, and an Active Release Therapist. Eastern Medical Center is proud to announce the business as a consecutive 9 time winner of the Pleasanton Reader's Choice Award. Eastern Medical Center has also been inducted into the Pleasanton Reader's Hall of Fame for the best acupuncture clinic in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Eastern Medical Center
5933 Coronado Lane Suite 100
Pleasanton, CA 94588

Have Questions?
Visit Our Webpage: Eastern Medical Center
Call Us:(925) 847-8889
Text Us:(925) 784-2202
Email Us: EasternMedicalCenter@EasternMedicalCenter.com
Message Us On Facebook
Follow Us On Instagram
Rate Us On Yelp

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?