Many diseases in clinical practice can be treated with acupuncture, such as gastrointestinal issues like stomach pain, abdominal pain, insomnia, and headaches; gynecological problems like dysmenorrhea and abnormal uterine bleeding; and musculoskeletal pain including lower back pain, dental pain from temporomandibular joint disorders, cervical spondylosis, and shoulder pain. However, patients often come in with confusion, asking, “Shouldn’t I be needled in my shoulder for shoulder pain? Why do I need needles in my legs?” At this point, I explain the underlying causes and mechanisms of their shoulder pain, rather than just needling the area that hurts.

The core of traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment is based on syndrome differentiation, and acupuncture uses nearby points (near the pain point), distal points, and special points for treatment. Distal point selection can be understood as selecting points according to the syndrome. For instance, lower back pain can have different syndromes such as cold-damp lower back pain, damp-heat lower back pain, kidney deficiency lower back pain, and traumatic or sprained blood stasis lower back pain. If the diagnosis indicates a combination of cold-damp lower back pain and kidney deficiency lower back pain, points such as Guan Yuan, Zu San Li, Yin Ling Quan, and Fu Liu may be chosen, with the effect of dispelling cold and dampness and tonifying kidney qi.