A 44 year old female presents with acute neck and back pain that started 1-2 weeks ago. She only found partial relief with things like Theragun, Motrin, Icy Hot, and Massages.

Main Signs/Symptoms:

• Sharp and achey pain that started at a 8-9/10 but reduced down to 4/10 with above modalities; would not budge from there
• Pain is sharper in the morning but overall, dull and achey

Patient also presented with:

• Hypothyroidism that is managed
• Dry, itchy, red skin that feels sensitive
• Achey muscles in her upper back

Dates of treatment:

5/2/25: Felt relaxed post-treatment.

5/7/25: Neck and back felt “amazing” since last treatment. There was no pain the morning after treatment. Neck is at a 2/10 tightness, no pain.

5/12/25: Stopped taking Aleve after first appt and hasn’t taken it since. Neck is only achey/tension now and is a 2/10 which she said is her normal level of tension. No pain.

5/19/25: Neck pain is gone. Just has her usual 1/10 tension from work. Continues to come for tx bc it helps keep her neck feeling good and she also feels more grounded and calm.

Key takeaways:

• Sometimes, treatment can provide relief in as little as one time.
• Repetitive motions can build up over time. This patient has a job that lends itself to neck strain. Continuing to show up maintains our progress on her neck and relieves stress.
• Although this patient has a presenting pattern that is specific to her (LV/KD Yin deficiency, etc.), we can feed two birds with one scone and incorporate that into the treatment for acute neck pain.
• Some of the commonly used points in her treatments: K6, K7, Linggu, Dabai, H7, Shenguan, Wanshuner, Wanshunyi

Thanks for reading!

IG: kieradlayne
Website for acupuncture treatments, herbal consults, or my online program for complex chronic health conditions: theidiosyncraticneedle.com