With 20 years of experience, Fernanado Escobar, L.Ac is able to provide a fully comprehensive wellness program for you including Acupuncture, Movements, Myo-fascial Massage, Gua Sha, and Herbal Formulas to treat the underlying root imbalance to manage your pain.
Acupuncture/athletes | Acupuncture/wellness | Electro-Acupuncture
Gua Sha | Cupping | Moxibustion | Herbal Formulas
Acupuncture for Pain Management
Sports Medicine Acupuncture is a style of acupuncture with Biomedical Evidence supporting pain reduction and improved circulation, with trigger point therapy to reset and realign the structures that are experiencing stagnation. This is different from other styles of acupuncture that are based on focusing on internal medicine (ie digestion, stress, etc).
The Initial session takes into account Postural Assessment, Orthopedic tests, and Assessment Exams to find the source of the pain. Sports Medicine Acupuncture is designed to provide the the most advanced assessment and treatment of sports, work, and orthopedic injuries.
The Acu treatment may also include myofascial release, postural assessment, and a prescription of corrective exercises.
Orthopedic tests and assessment exams are used for diagnosis. Acupuncture is applied to musculoskeletal trigger points [mostly different from traditional acupuncture points] to rebalance neuromuscular functioning and treat all musculoskeletal injuries. A trigger point is a site where motor nerves enter the muscle. Acupuncture is the perfect conductor of electricity to the nervous system to communicate, rebalance, heal, and release traumas held in the musculoskeletal system after an injury. It communcates to the body to focus on that specific area of healing.
A few examples of when to visit a Sports Medicine Acupuncturist is when you have suffered or suffering from:
- Tension headaches
- Migraines
- Neck pain
- Degenerative Joint Disease
- Degenerative Disc Disease such as: Spondylosis or Spondylitis
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
- Any Shoulder Injuries or Pain
- Any Elbow Injuries or Pain
- Wrist injuries
- De Quervain’s Syndrome
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Mid-back Pain (between the shoulder blades)
- Low Back Pain
- Sciatica
- Knee Injuries or Pain such as: Meniscus Tear / Torn Meniscus
- Ankle Injuries: Such as Ankle Pain or Sprained Ankle
- Foot Pains: Such as Plantar Fasciitis, Morton’s Neuroma, or Heel Spurs
- Nerve injuries
Acupuncture for Wellness
Acupuncture is also an effective treatment for insomnia, stress, PTSD, digestive issues, addiction, and low energy (to name a few). Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to heal the body and bring it back into balance. Acupuncture has broad spectrum systemic effects to facilitate optimal health using the body’s natural energy flow to restore balance.
Electro-Acupuncture
Electro-Acupuncture is the term used to refer to the application of a pulsating electrical current to acupuncture needles at acupuncture point sites on the body. The current varies on the treatment, however no current is actually transmitted through the body— there is only enough stimulation for the patient to feel a slight pulsating sensation. A standard treatment session usually lasts between 10 and 20 minutes and rarely exceeds half an hour. It is a convenient stimulation technique that can be used for a variety of treatments; stubborn neurological disorders, chronic pain, spasms, paralysis, sports or common injuries of the muscles or joints. Electro-acupuncture has been proven to promote blood circulation, relieve pain, warm the muscles, regenrate tendons, ligaments, bones, and nerves, as well as powerfully move blood stagnation due to a blockage or poor circulation from trauma.
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Gua Sha
Gua Sha is an important hands-on medical treatment that has been used throughout Asia for centuries. Gua means ‘to rub’ or ‘press stroke’. Sha is a term that describes the blood congestion in surface tissue in areas where the patient may experience stiffness and pain; Sha is also the term for the little red dots that are raised from applying Gua Sha. When Gua press-stroking is applied in repeated even strokes, Sha appears as small red dots called ‘petechiae’ and the pain immediately shifts. In minutes the small red dots fade into blended reddishness. The Sha disappears totally in two to three days after treatment. The color of Sha and rate of fading can indicate important information about a patient’s condition. Pain relief lasts even after the sha is completely gone.
The benefits of Gua Sha are numerous. It resolves spasms and pain, and promotes normal circulation to the muscles, tissues and organs, as seen in Gua Sha’s immediate effect on coughing and wheezing. Research has shown that Gua Sha causes a four-fold increase in microcirculation of surface tissue (Nielsen et al. 2007) and can reduce inflammation and stimulate the immune system (Braun et al. 2011; Chan et al. 2011). Gua Sha upregulates heme-oxygenase-1 [HO-1], that acts to reduce internal organ inflammation, for example, in cases of asthma, hepatitis and liver disease.
The patient experiences immediate changes in stiffness and pain with increased mobility. Because Gua Sha mimics sweating, it can help to resolve fever. Gua Sha cools the patient who feels too warm, warms the patient who feels too cold, while relaxing tension and reducing anxiety. Acupuncturists and practitioners of traditional East Asian medicine consider Gua Sha for any illness or condition where there is pain or discomfort, for upper respiratory and digestive problems, and any condition where touch palpation indicates there is sha. Gua Sha is often done in combination with acupuncture for problems that acupuncture alone cannot address.
Cupping
Cupping is a technique that uses glass cups to suction the muscles, pulling out toxins from the space between the muscles and fascia, releasing built up lactic acid in the muscles, and sending the body a message to detox and heal. The old Chinese medical theory holds that pain results from stagnation. If pain is the essence of disease, then suffering is a result of obstructed or irregular flow in the body. Chinese cupping is therefore a method of breaking up the blockage to restore the body’s natural flow of energy. Cupping is combined with acupuncture in one treatment, but it can also be used alone. The suction provided by cupping can loosen muscles, encourage blood flow, activate the parasympathetic nervous system, relieve back and neck pain, soothe stiff muscles, and reduce anxiety. For most patients, this is a particularly relaxing and relieving sensation. Once suctioned, the cups are generally left in place for about ten or more minutes while the patient relaxes. In fact, respiratory conditions are one of the most common maladies that cupping is used to relieve.
Moxibustion
Moxibustion is the use of lighting poles of dried mugwort and holding near the body to warm areas of pain with the intention of stimulating the circulation of blood. For injuries it is used to rapidly promote healing by increasing blood circulation to the area, reducing swelling, and pain relief. For thousands of years moxibustion was the principal form of medical treatment. It is only in recent history that western science-based medicine and pharmaceuticals have become more of the standard practice and its effectiveness.
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Custom Herbal Formulas
The medicinal use of herbal formulations is well established and are effective in treating a wide variety of ailments. For pain management, ailments are healed quicker with the use of internal and external herbal prescriptions. Herbal medicine includes raw herbs, herbs in powdered form, powdered herbs in a capsule, an alcohol based tincture, patches, or a topical liniment.
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