Fifteen years ago, I was experiencing extreme lower back pain that regular Western medicine could…read morenot relieve. The pain was so crippling, I had to roll out of bed onto my knees when the alarm clock wakened me. I was desperate for relief. Before submitting to surgery, I finally gave in to a last-ditch recommendation that I had previously dismissed as quackery: acupuncture. How could a bunch of needles eliminate my pain?
I fortunately located a good acupuncture doctor in Phoenix. In seven visits, he reduced my #9 pain to #2, using up to 35 needles in each visit, and occasionally some cupping to increase blood circulation. The hairlike needles hurt a little but never went very deep. That modest tolerance was worth it. In three weeks, I was living a normal life again.
A few years later, I had some more lower back pain. But my previous doctor was visiting his family in China, so I tried out a few new acupuncturists in Tempe. I don't know why, but their needles did nothing for me. Not until my original doctor returned was I able to get the relief I needed. Evidently, finding the right doctor was the key.
Three months ago, the lower back pain started edging back in. And then, after a grueling day of weeding and pruning, the pain came back in force... probably around a #7 level of pain. But my original doctor, now in his 70s, had retired. I searched for "acupuncturists near me" in Google, reviewing each practitioner carefully, finding that most of them focused on acupuncture for aesthetics, not pain relief. I finally found Dr. Quan Liang in North Phoenix. And I'm glad I did.
With Dr. Quan, your only contact is with the doctor. His is a small practice. No receptionist. His practical, Chinese bedside manner is similar to my first acupuncturist, but his methodologies are vastly different. Dr. Quan uses a mix of traditional and modern Chinese medicine, including acupressure, cupping, heat, herbal medicine, and electro-acupuncture. The big difference between the two doctors: Dr. Quan's methods were more painful, but I experienced relief almost immediately.
Acupressure hurts. Plain and simple. I was yelping, out loud, for 20-straight minutes, during each visit. But he knew exactly where to apply that pressure to loosen my muscles. If you can't endure the pain of an elbow digging into the knots in your back, Dr. Quan has other tools.
Have you ever used a TENS unit? You know, where a mild, pulsing electrical current causes specific muscles to contract every second? Envision a half-dozen acupuncture needles, all hooked up to a TENS unit, which guarantees the pulses are hitting all the right places. He adjusts the electric pulses to a mild level. But it's the needles that hurt. He inserts them deeper into your muscles than with straight acupuncture, and it hurts while they are being inserted. Once they're in, no problem. And he applies infrared heat while you lie there for 20 minutes, to help the blood and Qi ("Chi") circulation.
THE END RESULT: my pain levels reduced quickly in one week. First visit: #7 down to #5. Second visit: #5 down to #3. Third visit: #3 down to #1.
Would I recommend Dr. Quan? Absolutely... if you can endure some pain to get rid of the REAL pain.
