For many people acupuncture is an effective means of relieving pain. This may be particularly true for back pain and headache pain. Other types of pain that may be helped by acupuncture include arthritis (both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis), musculoskeletal injuries (for instance, to the neck, shoulder, knee, or elbow), fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, labor pain, and cancer-related pain. How acupuncture relieves pain is not entirely clear, but there are many theories based on scientific principles.__Medhelp.com

This 58-year-old female patient presented in February 2008, with severe pain of her lower back, right buttock, leg, and foot.The patient's pain began in February 2007, when she slipped on a cleaning in her home,after that,she has been many different treatment including phsiotherapy,osteopathy,chiropracitc,etc,but nothing worked,She also received hydrocodone bitartrate/acetaminophen, which provided minor relief but caused nausea.She described the pain as "cramping, burning, radiating, and squeezing." She said the pain was constant, with an intense ache in her lower back. Pain radiated hot across her hip and buttock, down the posterolateral aspect of her leg to the sole and top of her foot.She was unable to work because of intolerable pain.

On physical examination, it was noted that flexion, extension and lateral movements of the spine were all completely normal. However, on palpation of the L4,L5 facet joint there was extreme tenderness, on the right more than the left, examination also showed decreased ankle reflex on the right side.

After presentation at my clinic the patient enrolled in zak acupuncture,after first time treatment,patient was with little result. She carried on treatment and received deep and intensive acupuncture in lower back area for approximately 2 months,almost 10 acupuncture sessions in which she had a lot of thick needles put over the tender facet joints,and some regional acupuncture points. On the eleventh session, it was difficult to elicit the previous area of tenderness and the patient felt that the pain had completely resolved.