How to Heal a Bad Neck – Chinese Hospitals or Acupuncture?
For the last two years, my girlfriend’s neck has been a constant source of annoyance (if not outright pain) for her. Until recently, we shoved this into the ‘hope it goes away’ category. Stupid choice, you might say.
Maybe you’re right. Maybe not, and here’s why:
Medical Care: The Biggest Gamble You Can Take in China
While many things in China are improving, one thing that may not be improving is medical care. Thanks largely to the way doctors & hospitals make money, it is always a gamble to go see a doctor in China.
You see, doctors in China are compensated in two ways. The first form of compensation is a fixed (& usually quite low) salary. The second is a commission on all medicines and treatments sold.
Without going into more detail, you can probably see why such a compensation system could produce a number of unnecessary (and dangerous) prescriptions for medicine and other types of treatment.
Scared of Hospitals in China
I’m not the only one who is scared of hospitals in China. If you understand how hospitals in China usually operate, you are doubtlessly scared as well (if you’d like to read about some of the bad experiences I’ve already had in Chinese hospitals, please click here). I’m be especially scared to bring my girlfriend to check out her neck… they might just recommend an unnecessary (and possibly bankrupting) operation.
Is Acupuncture a Better Solution in China?
All of this got me to thinking that in China, it probably makes a lot more sense to try out something like acupuncture. After all, you are paying for the service itself (not for the privilege of being sold additional drugs & treatments), and the treatment does come from China.
There are a number of people who seem to swear by it, including one of my girlfriend’s friends. A good friend of my brother’s is even a practicing acupuncturist, and since he is a quite upstanding fellow I think it’s unlikely he’d do something he doesn’t believe in.
Would You Want to be Treated with Acupuncture in China?
Just for a moment, put yourself in the same situation. What would you do? (imagine that you, like most Chinese people, don’t have health insurance) Please let me know in the comments below.
Noticed you posted this a while ago, maybe this info will still be relevant.
“All of this got me to thinking that in China, it probably makes a lot more sense to try out something like acupuncture. After all, you are paying for the service itself (not for the privilege of being sold additional drugs & treatments), and the treatment does come from China.” Actually, most Chinese Medicine clinics and hospitals now will try and upsell you additional herbs and prepaid treatments, diagnosistic tests, pharmaceuticals, etc. I’d say Chinese medicine is the thing to try becuase it has more options and a better chance for success. I’m an acupuncturist but also worked outpatient physical therapy for a few years. Chronic neck pain has few choices in western medicine. For her neck, Western meds won’t actually cure anything. Surgery should only be an absolute last resort. I honestly have never seen a good outcome from a neck surgery. And in a mild case of chronic neck pain it just wouldn’t be worth it. Such a surgery would require good physical therapy for proper recovery and I doubt there is good and affordable PT in China. Maybe I’m wrong, haven’t looked into it.
Maybe chiropractic, but i wouldn’t go more than a few visits, and you have the problem of finding a good chiropractor in Shanghai. Since they’ll probably be expensive, it might be worth it go a few visits, but be careful of any doctor (acu or otherwise) who tries to hook you in to ongoing expensive treatment.
Craniosacral can be incredibly effective and gentle therapy for chonic neck pain, but again problem of finding a good and affordable practitioner.
Anyway, back to chinese medicine:
These are probably the order of effectiveness for long-term neck pain: massage, acupuncture, herbs. Massage should be tuina, medical massage. If the doctor is very good you will probably feel heat or some other energy moving through the area they’re working on.
If you go to a clinic, here’s one typical process: In Beijing we have the Beijing Massage Hospital http://www.massage-hospital.com/english/index.htm At this hospital, you go and register and do an initial Q&A in an intake room. Very brusque interview and a little rough with the hands on, but that’s their job, just to process. They should send her to the imaging room to get a scan of her neck. This is important in trying to see if they can identify visually obvious problems and to get a comparative record for the future. It is also not important because even if the doctor is very good, he may not be able to identify anything useful from the image but still be able to effectively treat her, and/or the neck problem may be due to a different part of the body (ie. shoulders or mid back), and/or the image may show a problem which isn’t related to or causing the pain. The intake people then assign you a doctor if you don’t have one and may try to suggest starting with a certain number of visits up front. You can also firmly state that you are only paying for one visit at a time. You then go to the doctor, he asks additional quesitons then goes hands-on to feel the problem. Maybe massage then acupuncture, or one or the other. Then maybe an herb forumla. I don’t think herbal tablets or pills will be very effective with the neck problem. The water-cooked herbs may work, but you should be able to feel the herbs working if they are rigth.
Try to find out beforehand who the best doctor is for her particular condition. Chinese Medicine has specialties too, so a great ob/gyn herbalist might not be able to do anything effective for a neck problem. Within the Beijing Massage Hospital, there will also be people who are especially experienced in treating chronic neck pain. Even within chronic neck pain, some doctors may be better at treating the muscles, others the ligaments, others the bone. Some will be able to use acupuncture or herbs effectively, some only massage. I don’t know the clinics / options in Shanghai. But you could possibly find someone good through the Shanghai University of TCM. I would try and find the most experienced doctor possible, even if they cost more. You can also try to find a good doctor for your case through one of the old performing arts schools (ask in the dance department). Or go to a good herb store and ask for a referral to an acupuncturist/tuina doctor who is good at physical injury.
A good doctor will listen to her carefully and ask clear and relevant questions such as “how long, what kind of pain, does it radiate, what makes it worse or better”. They will also take the time to use their hands to diagnose her neck, either before or during the massage. Through their hands it should feel like they have a plan and are continuously looking using their touch. It should feel light and sensitive and smart, not clumsy/heavy/painful/unfocused.
Since the problem has been there for two years, it may take a while for the problem to resolve. Or it may go away in one or two treatments. Either way, there should be significant improvement within a few visits. If not, or if you just don’t feel good about the doctor/treatments, just find someone new. So don’t pay a lot of money up front (clinics often have a discount for prepayment) or otherwise get locked in.
Hi CT – Thanks for the great response on this. I knew the term tuina(推拿), but didn’t know it referred to specialist medical massage until know. Thanks for the description of adjectives to make sure they’re doing a good job too – having someone make such recommendations is helpful to help anyone avoid self-proclaimed experts.
It seems the term is used in shops that don’t really practice it as well, so gotta look a bit to find a good place. Where are / were you in China?
Jeremy,
Acupuncture definitely works, but you’d need to be sure that they use single-use disposable needles! The chinese have been having all kinds of problems with sterility and purity – just look up melamine and babies to see what I’m talking about.
Burton
Hi Burton – The single use disposable needles usually come in a sealed bag that you can look at first, but this is in the bigger cities in China. Unfortunately it seems the less likely someone would know to ask for them, the more likely that place wouldn’t have them.
For my neck problem, western medication doesn’t work. So, maybe your girlfriend has the same problem. I’ve been to one of the best doctors in three countries including Singapore & USA (Beverly Hills/Los Angeles).
I try physical therapy (5 years of learning at university), not just ordinary massage. It worked.
Then, now I try acupuncture. It seems good, too.
I am also a great believer that acupuncture really does bring relief to some body pain.