Acupuncture For Muscle Spasm

In this post we discuss the perspective of Japanese Acupuncture and explain how acupuncture can relieve muscle spasm.

There are many causes for muscle spasms in the body. A biochemical imbalance between the calcium and magnesium levels in the body can cause muscle spasms. They can be a by-product of over-exercising or a side effect from different types of medication for illnesses that allopathy or orthodox medicine might prescribe.

Muscle spasms too can result from lifestyle such as where someone has perspired a lot or done a lot of heavy physical work or the opposite, e.g. they maintain a fixed posture for a long time.

One of the more common complaints in the 21st Century relates to computer use and the damage to the “mouse” arm and hand, resulting in a very stiff neck and shoulders. Sometimes people suffer “tennis elbow” or “golfers’ elbow” from operating the mouse. This results in pain in the medial board or between the spine and the edge of the shoulder blade or the scapular. When people are operating the computer mouse six to eight hours a day, it will really test out the musculature of even the healthiest person.

So unless there is some remedial action taken lifestyle-wise in these situations of over-exercise, heavy physical labour, excessive sweating or extended computer use, it is common for muscle spasms to occur.

From a Japanese Acupuncture perspective, we can view the body as a living tree – we have roots in the ground that draw the fluid up which travels through the trunk of the body to keep the limbs supple. So, if you like, we could use that analogy in relation to the musculature of the body.

So from a cramping or muscle spasm perspective, we are looking at insufficient fluids being available in the extremities per se. The tendency of the area to spasm or tighten up is heightened by this lack of coolant or lubricant in its function through the body. We call this in Japanese Acupuncture a Yin deficiency (or the dark side of the circle deficiency).

In Japanese Acupuncture we use our capacity to tonify what we call the Yin energy, and specifically the kidney and liver Yin energy, to help mollify the extreme circumstances that will produce muscle spasm and muscle pain.

So we are not just looking at dealing with the symptoms and taking the pain away. We really want to get behind the scenes from the perspective of traditional acupuncture and nourish the roots of the tree, the analogy for our body. Flexibility and suppleness then are by-products of the acupuncture treatment.

From the Japanese Acupuncture perspective, we are looking not only at taking some of the deadwood out but also looking to invigorate the growth and suppleness of the extremities of the body.

That’s how we provide acupuncture for muscle spasms using Japanese Acupuncture principles and practice.

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