MEDICAL ACUPUNCTURE

Volume 28, Number 2, 2016

# Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
DOI: 10.1089/acu.2015.1156

Use of Dr. Tan’s Chinese Balance Acupuncture

for Treatment of Chronic Neck–Shoulder Pain

Arkady Kotlyar, PhD, DiplAc, Rina Brener, MD, and Michael Lis, MD

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Neck–shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal problem that is often chronic or recurrent.
The mechanism of the neck–shoulder pain musculoskeletal disorder is complicated, multifactorial, and
sometimes unclear.
Cases: Seven patients presented at an outpatient pain clinic, each with a chief complaint of chronic neck–
shoulder pain that these patients had had for various time periods.
Intervention: The patients were treated with 45-minute sessions of Chinese Balance Acupuncture per the
protocol of Richard Teh-Fu Tan, OMD, LAc.
Main Outcome Measures: Pain intensity, pain duration, and quality of life (QoL) were measured during the
treatment period, and the QoL was measured during the 3-month follow-up after three acupuncture sessions.
Results: After the third session (1.5 weeks after the beginning of treatment), the patients reported complete
dissipation of pain or significant reductions in pain intensity. There was also substantial improvement in QoL
during the treatment period and during the 3-month follow-up.
Conclusions: To date, this is the first case report on the effectiveness of Dr. Tan’s Chinese Balance Acu-
puncture for treatment of chronic neck–shoulder pain. Studies to confirm the results of the present report are
warranted.

Key Words: Pain, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), Dr. Tan’s Chinese Balance Acupuncture

INTRODUCTION heart rate variability (HRV), especially during sleep.3 In

N eck–shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal
problem that is frequently chronic or recurrent.1 Mus-
culoskeletal pain often co-occurs with sleep disturbances.2
The mechanism of the neck–shoulder pain musculoskel-
etal disorder is complicated, multifactorial, and sometimes
unclear.3 However, it is known that changes in physical
activity and autonomic nervous system regulation may be
involved in the pathogenesis of chronic neck–shoulder
pain.3 In an investigation conducted by Hallman et al. pa-
tients with neck–shoulder pain were rated to have higher
levels of stress and fatigue, and reduced sleep quality.3
These patients also had elevated heart rates and reduced
addition, the neck–shoulder pain group in this study had a
lower activity level.3 Changes in HRV reflected an auto-
nomic imbalance associated with chronic musculoskeletal
pain.3
Moon et al. reported that patients with congenital
monosegment synostosis between spinal levels C-2 and C-6
complained of neck–shoulder discomfort or pain.4 It was
concluded that spondylosis at the mobile segments in a
synostotic spine is a fusion-related pathology rather than
solely age-related disc degeneration.4
Although neck and shoulder pain are common, the presenting
symptoms of shoulder and neck pathologies overlap signifi-
cantly.5 Medical history, physical examination, and imaging

Outpatient Pain Clinic, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel.

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