One of the tenets of Chinese medicine is that pain arises from stagnation of qi (body’s vital energy), blood stasis, food accumulation, water retention, or any other substantial blockages such as stones and worms. Because of the potential causes, pain can happen at almost any part of the body and have a wide variety of qualities such as chronic, acute, dull, sharp, stabbing, nauseating, shooting, and pain with a burning or cold sensation. The treatment strategies are breaking-down stagnation, reopening the channels, harmonizing internal organs, and restoring the free flow of qi, blood and vital energy. Pain often has both an emotional quality and a sensed bodily location. People are seeking complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to deal with their condition. A recent survey by NCCAM (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the NIH) found pain was the most common reason that people used alternative medicine. Among American adults who used CAM in 2002, 16.8% used CAM to treat back pain; 6.6% for neck pain, 4.9% for arthritis; 4.9% for joint pain; 3.1% for headache, and 2.4% used CAM to treat recurring pain. (Some survey respondents may have used CAM to treat more than one of these pain conditions.)
Chinese medicine treatments, especially acupuncture treatments, have a satisfactory result for pain. They are simple, safe, and highly effective. Research into both the mechanism and clinical efficacy of acupuncture is not fully understood, it is likely that acupuncture stimulates the release of large quantities of endogenous opioids. A 2004 NCCAM-funded study showed that acupuncture provides relief and improved function in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, causing some managed care organizations to support acupuncture as adjunctive therapy for this purpose.