Which is better, acupuncture or massage

If I really want to say which one is better, there is no standard answer. It all depends on the adaptation. Each has its own applicable scenarios. If you use it correctly, it will work, but if you use it wrongly, you will suffer.

For example, the little girl who came to my studio a few days ago worked on a project for five consecutive days and sat still for 12 hours a day. When she came, her shoulders and back were so stiff that they felt like they were welded together. She hissed and gasped in pain when she raised her arms to put on her coat. She was also extremely afraid of needles and would avoid them when she saw them. I gave her a 40-minute shoulder and neck massage, slowly rubbing away the nodules along the path of the trapezius muscles, and finally performed a massage to release the bladder meridian. She stood up and shook her shoulders, saying that it felt like the big stone she had been carrying on her body for several days had fallen to the ground. For this kind of superficial muscle spasm and tension-type soreness that just appeared, massage can directly act on the muscle fibers, and the intensity is controllable without any pain. It is much more suitable for her than acupuncture.

But if you encounter deeper problems, the strength of the massage will be a bit "out of reach". Last month, an uncle who had been suffering from lumbar protrusion for five or six years came to see me. The pain was so painful that he could even walk with a slight limp. The MRI showed that he had deep multifidus adhesions at the 3rd and 4th levels of his waist, which also pressed on the nerve roots and caused numbness in his left leg. I had been using massage at a massage parlor near my home for half a month, but the strength was too small and useless. When the strength was too strong, the pain made him break out in a cold sweat. So I gave him Yaoyangguan, Weizhong, and Electroacupuncture was added to the local Ashi point for 20 minutes, and one-third of the leg numbness disappeared after the first puncture. After five consecutive punctures, the pain was basically gone. For problems such as deep soft tissue problems, nerve entrapment, or problems related to menstrual regulation, chronic migraines, and qi and blood disorders in the meridians, the advantages of acupuncture's penetrating power and meridian regulation are obvious.

Of course, some people do not agree with this statement and think that massage can still regulate the internal organs. For example, rubbing the abdomen to stimulate the midsection and Tianshu can regulate the deficiency and coldness of the spleen and stomach. Many people with weak spleen and stomach insist on rubbing it for a month, and the problems of flatulence and indigestion can indeed be alleviated. If a person is already dizzy from needles, you can't force people to get acupuncture, right? There are also patients with stiff neck who are too lazy to wait for a massage. They can press the Houxi point and twist it for two minutes, and they can turn their head on the spot. This saves time compared with massage. In the end, it all depends on the individual situation and needs.

There is really no need to worry about which one is better. If you have been tired recently, your muscles are sore and stiff, and you are still afraid of pain, it is definitely right to get a massage to relax first. If the pain is deep and reoccurring, or you want to correct a chronic medical problem, it is not a disadvantage to try acupuncture if you can accept acupuncture. I really can't decide to find a reliable practitioner to evaluate it first, and the one that suits you will have the best effect.