Is acupuncture effective in treating lumbar disc herniation?

From a clinical perspective, lumbar disc herniation has a huge adverse effect on patients, and if not treated in time, it may cause complications. There are many ways to treat lumbar disc herniation in life. Among them, needle embedding therapy is effective. It is a unique acupuncture therapy that aims to stimulate acupoints to effectively improve local blood stasis, promote blood circulation and relieve pain.

1. Methods of Chinese medicine thread embedding to treat lumbar disc herniation

Acupoint thread embedding therapy is based on acupuncture theory and developed on the basis of the action mechanism of retained needles and buried needles. It is a unique acupuncture therapy. Acupoint thread embedding initially stimulates the acupoints mechanically to produce acupuncture effect, and then chemically stimulates the acupoints. As the catgut decomposes, liquefies and is absorbed, it produces a long-lasting, mild and benign stimulation to the acupoints. During thread embedding, because the needle tip is thick and the needle is inserted deep, the bleeding after thread embedment releases the local blood stasis that compresses the nerve root, improves the symptoms of blood stasis, and accelerates local blood circulation. In addition, the long-term stimulation of the catgut in the acupuncture point directly reaches the affected area, which together play the role of dredging meridians, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, reducing swelling and relieving pain, causing the surrounding blood vessels of the herniated disc to contract, microcirculation to improve blood flow, and tissue space edema to be eliminated. Since the needle tip of the disposable thread embedding needle through the intervertebral foramen just pierces the outer opening of the intervertebral foramen, it is safe without damaging the nerve root. The thick catgut is bounced into the intervertebral foramen to stimulate the contraction of the diseased nucleus pulposus, which makes the protruding nucleus pulposus part return, promotes the absorption and reduction of the inflammatory edema of the protruding nucleus pulposus, and relieves the compression of the dura mater sac and nerve roots, so that the symptoms can be quickly relieved until recovery.

The above is the method of TCM thread embedding for treating lumbar disc herniation. This method is simple and safe. Most patients have a soft and comfortable soreness and swelling sensation in the local area within 1 week after thread embedding, which is equivalent to the feeling of the needle being lifted when it is left in place. On the other hand, it shows that thread embedding can stimulate the acupoints more continuously and effectively than electroacupuncture, and thus the therapeutic effect is more consolidated. This therapy is safe and reliable. Except for a few cases of mild low fever during the treatment, no abnormal reactions such as infection or nerve damage occurred. Low fever is a reaction of catgut to foreign proteins in the body, which is a normal phenomenon and generally resolves naturally in 2 to 3 days.

2. What are the hazards of lumbar disc herniation?

1. Numbness, coldness and intermittent claudication of the lower limbs : Numbness of the lower limbs is often accompanied by pain. A small number of patients may experience simple numbness, and a small number of patients feel coldness or chilliness in their lower limbs. This is mainly due to the stimulation of the sympathetic nerve fibers in the spinal canal. The mechanism and clinical manifestations of intermittent claudication are similar to those of lumbar spinal stenosis, mainly because the pathological and physiological symptoms of secondary lumbar spinal stenosis may occur in the case of nucleus pulposus protrusion.

2. Symptoms of cauda equina : Mainly seen in central nucleus pulposus herniation, which is rare in clinical practice. Numbness and tingling in the perineum and urinary and bowel dysfunction may occur. Women may experience urinary incontinence and men may experience impotence. In severe cases, incontinence and incomplete paralysis of both lower limbs may occur.

3. Low back pain : More than 95% of patients with lumbar disc herniation have this symptom. Patients feel persistent dull pain in the lower back, which is relieved when lying down but aggravated when standing. It is generally tolerable and the patient can move the lower back moderately or walk slowly. The other type is sudden, severe, spasmodic pain in the lower back, which is unbearable and requires bed rest, seriously affecting life and work.

4. Radiating pain in the lower limbs: 80% of patients experience this symptom, which often occurs after the low back pain is relieved or disappears. It manifests as radiating irritation or numbness from the waist to the back of the thighs and calves, reaching the soles of the feet. In severe cases, there may be electric shock-like severe pain from the waist to the feet, often accompanied by numbness. Those with mild pain can walk with a limp; those with severe pain need to rest in bed, preferably with their waist, hips, and knees bent.