A 47 year old professor in a renowned university presented with low back pain radiating to her legs and shoulder pain. She had lost her father recently and was going through the grieving process. Her emotional pain only added to her physical pain.
Her pain was mainly due to muscle spasm and tightness in her back, buttock, legs and shoulders. This kind of pain, which is also called myofascial pain, is very amenable to dry needling as it relieves the spasm of the muscles.
She responded very well to dry needling of her back, buttocks, leg and shoulder and remained well for a year. During this period, she gradually overcame the grief of losing her father and also improved her work ergonomics especially working on the computer all of which maintained relief of her shoulder and back pain. She also went on a strict diet schedule to reduce weight.
A year later, however, her pain resurfaced after a fall and once again she responded to the same treatment.
A holistic management of total pain requires addressing not only the physical aspect but also the emotional aspect of the person such as the stress of losing a loved one as in this person. Besides, lifestyle and nutritional factors such as posture, exercise, diet and weight reduction also need to be addressed for maintaining relief of chronic pain.
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