What are the differences and effects of acupuncture and massage?

Simply put, acupuncture and massage are both treatments outside of traditional Chinese medicine. The core difference lies in the path of action - acupuncture uses metal needles inserted into acupuncture points on the body to stimulate the meridians and regulate qi, blood and internal organs. It is an invasive procedure.； Massage is a non-invasive physical intervention that acts on the muscles, meridians, and acupoints on the body's surface through manual techniques. Both have different effects and are applicable to completely different scenarios.

To be honest, I have been a physical therapist in a community Chinese medicine clinic for almost five years, and I have encountered too many patients who can’t distinguish the applicable scenarios of the two. Last week, a sophomore boy sprained his foot while playing football. His foot was so swollen and shiny after spraining that he couldn’t even put on shoes. In this acute stage, you must not insert needles or rub hard. I first I used gentle kneading techniques to relax the muscles around his calf and ankle, and combined with cold compresses, most of the swelling disappeared on the same day. After three days, the swelling disappeared, but he still had some pulling pain when walking. I pricked the local Ashi point and Yanglingquan. After two times, there was no pain at all, and he could go back to physical education class.

Many people's impression of acupuncture is that "acupuncture cures pain". In fact, it is more than that. Last year, there was an aunt in her 50s who suffered from chronic spleen and stomach deficiency. She would suffer from diarrhea when eating something cold. Her food intake was so small that she could only eat less than half a bowl of rice at one meal. She took traditional Chinese medicine for more than half a year. The effect was average, so I tried acupuncture with the intention of giving it a try. I acupunctured her Zhongwan, Zusanli, and Pishu acupoints three times a week for more than two months. She can now eat a bowl of rice at a meal, and occasionally eats a piece of iced watermelon in the summer without getting upset. However, there has always been controversy about the efficacy of acupuncture. Many scholars believe that the effect of acupuncture is inseparable from the placebo effect. However, there are also many large-sample clinical studies that have confirmed that the efficiency of acupuncture in relieving primary dysmenorrhea, postoperative analgesia, and migraine is more than 30% higher than that of the blank control group. At present, there is no absolute conclusion in the academic circle. You can choose according to your own acceptance. I would also like to mention that acupuncture is an invasive procedure and must be done in a regular medical institution. If the disinfection is not in place, infection may easily occur. If the needle is inserted in the wrong position, the internal organs or nerves may be injured. Don't just go to a roadside Sanwu shop for acupuncture.

Compared with acupuncture, which has a certain threshold and still suffers from pain, massage is much more popular. If you have shoulder pain after sitting for a long time at work, you can raise your hands and rub your shoulders twice. This is actually the most basic massage. Most people think that massage can only relax muscles. In fact, it has different levels. Ordinary health massage is indeed mainly to relax the tense muscles on the surface. For example, if an office worker faces the computer every day, the trapezius muscles are as hard as frozen pork. If you find a regular masseur to massage them for half an hour, you will immediately feel that most of the heaviness in your shoulders has disappeared. ； If it is a symptomatic medical massage, it can also adjust the misalignment of the small joints. I met a girl who works in design before. She lowered her head to draw all the time and suffered from dizziness for almost half a year. I found out that the curvature of the cervical spine had become straight and the third small joint was misaligned. She was afraid of needles, so I gave her cervical spine repositioning massage twice a week, combined with relaxing the muscles at the back of the neck. After more than a month of doing it, the dizziness basically didn’t happen again. Of course, there are a lot of controversies about massage. Many people think that the stronger the massage force, the better. Pain means it is effective. In fact, this is completely a misunderstanding. Too much force will cause damage to the muscles, and in severe cases, it will lead to myolysis. There are also patients with severe osteoporosis and lumbar spondylolisthesis. If they randomly find non-professional people to massage randomly, they may suffer from fractures and aggravated spondylolisthesis. There is also a view that massage can only act on the superficial muscles and soft tissues and cannot achieve the effect of regulating the internal organs. However, I have also met many elderly people who insist on doing abdominal massage all year round. They report that their long-term constipation and gastric bloating problems have been improved a lot. This also varies from person to person.

Normally, you don’t have to worry too much when choosing. If you just have superficial problems such as muscle soreness after exercise or stiff shoulders and neck after sitting for a long time, massage is enough, which is convenient and comfortable.； If you have chronic pain or organ dysfunction, you can try acupuncture if you can accept acupuncture. No matter which one you choose, you must find a regular institution and a professional, and don't try it blindly on your own body.