Low Back Pain and Acupuncture

Some of my favorite people are the most skeptical.

I want to share “Henry’s” story with you. (I changed his name).  Henry is 81 years old and he has been suffering with severe low back pain since his retirement almost 20 years ago.  He thinks it all started in 1973 when he had a bad fall on the ice, but he needed to work and managed to work through the pain.  But as soon as he retired, the pain started and just kept getting worse.

When Henry first came in, he had difficulty walking because of the sciatica shooting down the back, side, and front of his legs. He described his low back pain as excruciating and rated it a 10/10.  It was becoming a big problem for him to get out of bed in the morning, let alone take the buses around South East Portland to go grocery shopping. He couldn’t sleep because the pain woke him up every 2 hours. He was constipated and had to strain with every bowel movement…and that isn’t good because he also has high blood pressure. Acupuncture wasn’t even a consideration for him until his doctor suggested acupuncture. Then a friend said it worked for her.  So he made an appointment.

When we started, Henry was pretty doubtful.

Understandably, he wasn’t in a great mood and clearly needed some help. On the second visit he came early for his appointment, sat down with me and the first thing he says was, “It works! I feel better!”

After 5 acupuncture visits, Henry’s pain levels dropped to a 6/10.

The radiating stopped on the side and front of his legs.  He still has some pain down the back of his legs but that keeps getting better.  He now can sleep through the night. Pain isn’t waking him up anymore and he can walk farther without excruciating pain. Another added bonus is that he has started having a bowel movement every day and that always helps.  Henry is starting to feel a lot better in many ways. And we are having fun because like him, I was a skeptic too.

Does this sound familiar to you? Do you know someone who has low back pain?  If you do be sure to ask them “Have you tried acupuncture for that?” Then send them to The WellBridge Clinic.