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Tuesday 9am - 7:30pm Thursday 9am - 8pm Sunday 1:30pm - 5pm

Zhen Li Acupuncture, 4870 Rue DES ÉRABLES, PIERREFONDS, Montreal, QC (2025)

10/01/2025

1.Telling the story of acupuncture through the lens of modern medicine.
Last Wednesday evening, Xiao Li, an office worker who often comes in for follow-ups, pushed open the clinic door with one hand still resting on the back of his neck. He told me that for the past couple of days, even turning his head to look out the car window felt like someone was tugging hard at the base of his neck. Long hours at his desk and scrolling on his phone after dinner—it wasn’t hard for me to guess what was going on.
I asked him to stand straight and slowly turn his head. His right rotation was obviously limited, and his shoulder rose up without him noticing. When I placed my hand on the suboccipital and scalene muscles, they felt like tight ropes. Tracing down along the inner edge of his shoulder blade, the tissue felt rough and sticky, and in the chest area—especially around the pectoralis minor—it was dull and resistant. Down his back, the tension ran all the way into the quadratus lumborum. When I had him extend back and raise his arms overhead, it looked as if an invisible net was holding him down.
I told him, “Your whole tension chain is pulling.”
As usual, I asked a few quick questions about his sleep, appetite, and any chest tightness. A light palpation of the abdomen showed no obvious pain, though his diaphragm movement was a little tight—still, nothing that suggested deeper organ involvement.
Treatment began with loosening the “knots”: first the suboccipitals, then the scalenes, then between the shoulder blades, layer by layer. I worked deeper on the pectoralis minor, used sliding cupping across his back to restore glide, added a few needles to settle the system, and finished with gentle heat from a lamp. Halfway through, he said, “That pulling in my neck—it’s starting to ease.” Afterward, I asked him to repeat the head turn: this time, the angle opened up, his shoulders dropped, and his breathing flowed much more easily.
To explain, I drew him a little sketch: “Think of fascial tension like a city’s traffic system. When one intersection is jammed, cars back up and the whole line gets stuck. We just cleared the bottleneck, so now the flow returns.”
Stecco calls it a tension network and densification. Chinese medicine calls it Qi stagnation and blood stasis. Different words, same body reality.
He laughed and said, “So it’s not my bones out of place—it’s just traffic blocked.” I reminded him not to sit too long these next couple of days, to gently circle his neck and expand his chest—like maintaining the roads after clearing a jam. As he left, he turned his head again and smiled: “This time I don’t even have to squint.”
These are the moments I love: when the subtle changes under my hands tell me the body has opened up. Fascial tension equals Qi flow. That’s not a slogan—it’s something I feel every single day.

09/07/2025

Episode 1 — Meridians & Connective Tissue: Are They Really Connected?
👩‍🎓 Student :
Professor, I’ve heard of “meridians” in Chinese medicine, but in my anatomy courses they were never mentioned. Honestly, many people around me think meridians are just mysticism. Do they really exist?
👨‍⚕️ Cross-Disciplinary Master :
That’s a fair question. If we translate meridians into biomedical language, they are best understood as continuous planes of connective tissue—fascia, intermuscular septa, neurovascular sheaths.
And acupuncture points? They are the junction nodes where these tissue planes intersect, glide, or tether.

👩‍🎓 Student:
So you mean acupuncture points are not “imaginary spots” but anatomical structures?
👨‍⚕️ Master:
Exactly. Anatomical mapping studies show that about 80% of traditional acupuncture points co-localize with connective-tissue junctions.
In plain words: the ancients, without microscopes or MRI, located functional hotspots in the tissue network—very similar to what modern anatomy reveals as neurovascular passageways or fascial clefts.

👩‍🎓 Student:
Why is that overlap clinically important?
👨‍⚕️ Master:
Because stimulating these junctions is not random. They are biologically sensitive access points:
Mechanical leverage: fibroblasts deform and transmit strain through the ECM.
Neural input: small sensory fibers are abundant here.
Biochemical signals: ATP, adenosine, cytokines are released more readily.
So when you insert a needle at these intersections, you’re not “poking in the dark.” You are engaging locations where structure, mechanics, and signaling converge.

👩‍🎓 Student:
So meridians are not “mystical lines,” but another way of describing the body’s continuous network?
👨‍⚕️ Master:
Precisely. Meridians are a map of connective-tissue continuity. Acupuncture points are the nodes. For a Western-trained clinician, this is not mysticism—it’s a different language describing the same anatomy.

👨‍⚕️ Master (Closing Statement):
Meridians ≈ maps of connective-tissue planes.
Points ≈ junction nodes with higher signaling leverage.
This model complements Western anatomy, helping us understand how a local input can yield systemic effects.

09/02/2025

Part 2: From “Pain Alarm” to “System Reset”
How Acupuncture and Physical Therapy Work Together for Chronic Low Back Pain
In the previous post, we introduced Ms. Lin, a 40-year-old office worker who struggled with chronic lumbosacral pain. Through three simple clinical tests, we identified her condition as mainly mechanical low back pain with sacroiliac joint involvement and mild neural tension. That was Part 1 — finding the source.
Now, let’s look at Part 2 — the recovery pathway.

Step 1: Acupuncture — turning down the alarm
Chronic pain often acts like a faulty fire alarm: the nervous system stays “on alert,” amplifying discomfort.
Acupuncture helps by:
Relaxing tight muscle groups in the lumbar and pelvic region.
Reducing pain signaling by calming local nerve endings.
Improving circulation, so the tissues can heal more efficiently.
For Ms. Lin, just a few sessions of acupuncture brought her pain level down quickly, allowing her to sleep better and move with less fear.

Step 2: Physical Therapy — rebuilding the system
Once the “alarm” is lowered, the next task is to retrain the system.
PT focused on:
Core stability training (bridge, bird-dog, hip hinge).
Mobility and load tolerance for the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints.
Ergonomics and daily posture education to prevent flare-ups.
This stage is like upgrading the foundation of a house: acupuncture opens the locked doors, but PT strengthens the beams and walls.

Step 3: Integration and milestones
With both therapies working together, recovery became a 6–8 week journey:
Weeks 1–2: Pain relief and confidence restored.
Weeks 3–4: Functional stability returning.
Weeks 5–6: Tolerance to sitting and daily tasks increased.
Weeks 7–8: Consolidation, self-management, and flare-up control.
By the end of this program, Ms. Lin moved from “I can’t sit 30 minutes” to “I can handle my day with energy.”

✅ Why this matters for you
For many people with chronic low back pain, acupuncture alone or PT alone can bring partial results. But when combined — acupuncture to quiet the pain, PT to rebuild stability — the effect is not just additive, it’s synergistic.

⚠️ Note:
This article simplifies the treatment pathway. Details of acupuncture points and PT protocols are not listed here, as they require professional assessment.
Both methods should be carried out under the supervision of licensed professionals.
Recovery is dynamic: plans are adapted based on individual progress.
👉 This concludes the story of Ms. Lin’s recovery. If you missed Part 1, check our previous post

08/31/2025

Ms. Lin, 40 years old, office worker.
(This is Part 1 of her recovery story. Part 2 will be published in the coming days.)
Main complaint: chronic lumbosacral pain, NPRS 7/10.
Morning stiffness lasting ~20 minutes.
Pain begins after sitting for 30 minutes.
Night pain waking her 1–2 times.
Her goal was simple: to sit for one full hour without pain, and to get out of bed in the morning more smoothly.

Three Classic Clinical Tests (done in the clinic)
1. Straight Leg Raise (SLR)
Raising the leg to 30°–70° that provokes pulling or radiating pain in the buttock/posterior thigh → suggests nerve root or tension involvement.
2. Sacroiliac Joint Compression Test
Pressing both anterior superior iliac spines inward; reproduction of pain in the sacroiliac area → indicates SI joint involvement.
3. Flexion/Extension Functional Test
Pain or restriction during forward flexion or backward extension → points to mechanical low back pain and facet/soft tissue involvement.
👉 At the same time, the clinician records functional scores:
ODI or RMDQ: Disability indices for low back pain.
PSFS: Patient-Specific Functional Scale.
These provide baseline data to track improvement.

Preliminary Classification & Conclusion (in plain terms)
Ms. Lin’s case showed:
Predominantly mechanical low back pain
Clear sacroiliac joint involvement
Mild neural tension
This means the treatment should not only “relieve pain,” but also combine two approaches:
Acupuncture → relax overactive muscles and reduce pain
Physical Therapy → restore stability and improve tolerance

What’s next?
This article tells the first part of her recovery story — from pain to clear diagnosis.
👉 In Part 2, we’ll show how acupuncture and PT worked together over 6–8 weeks, moving her from “afraid to move”to “energy restored.”

⚠️ Note: Due to space limits, we cannot include all acupuncture details here.
These rehabilitation strategies should always be carried out with professional supervision — they are not intended for self-use.

08/30/2025

Anna, a 40-year-old graphic designer, spends long hours at her desk and also enjoys playing the guitar. Over time, she started to feel pain and stiffness in her right shoulder.
When she came to our clinic, she described her symptoms:
“After playing guitar for a while, the back of my shoulder feels sore.”
“Turning my arm outward or lifting it up is uncomfortable.”
“At night, lying on my right side makes it worse.”
During the examination, our therapist, Li Zhen, used several simple tests:
Asking her to rotate her arm outward against resistance, which immediately caused pain in the back of the shoulder.
Placing her arm in a “hornblower” position (like holding a trumpet) — she couldn’t maintain the movement, and her arm dropped with pain.
Pressing and gently stretching the outer edge of the shoulder blade, which triggered clear tenderness.
These findings confirmed a problem in the teres minor muscle, one of the rotator cuff muscles that stabilizes and rotates the shoulder.
Treatment focused on releasing the tight muscle and reducing pressure on nearby nerves. Acupuncture was used to relax the area, combined with guided shoulder mobility exercises. After the first treatment, Anna reported about 50% relief. After two sessions, her improvement reached over 90%. She could once again play the guitar comfortably and felt her posture had improved.
⚠️ Note: In this case, acupuncture points were also included as part of the treatment plan, though the detailed techniques are not described here. These methods require professional skill — not for self-use.

08/27/2025

J.D., a 38-year-old graphic designer, spends 8–10 hours a day in front of his computer. Like many people who work long hours at a desk with their head leaning forward, he began to experience a very common problem: tension and pain in the suboccipital muscles (the small muscles at the base of the skull).
When he came to our clinic, he described his symptoms in his own words:
“The back of my head always feels tight and heavy, especially after sitting for a long time.”
“Sometimes it feels like a band squeezing my head, and the pain shoots toward my eyes.”
“My neck is stiff, and turning my head is uncomfortable.”
“Once in a while, I even feel a bit dizzy while working.”
During examination, three simple tests confirmed the issue:
Pressing the base of the skull caused sharp tenderness.
Tilting his head back made the pain worse.
Rotating and extending the neck also increased the discomfort.
Together, his symptoms and the physical findings pointed clearly to a problem in the suboccipital muscle group.
We performed acupuncture to release the tension in this area. Because the muscles were tight and compressing nearby nerves and blood vessels, his symptoms were very noticeable. After the first treatment, J.D. already felt about 50–60% better. After three sessions, his improvement reached over 90%. His neck became more flexible, the headaches were gone, and even the dizziness had disappeared.
⚠️ Note: This kind of treatment requires a high level of professional skill. It should only be performed by trained practitioners — not for self-use.

08/25/2025

Cupping & Platelets: Ancient Therapy, Modern Science
When Michael Phelps appeared at the Rio Olympics with round purple marks, the world noticed cupping. What looked strange was in fact a signal: the body repairing itself.
How it works
A suction cup creates negative pressure. Tiny capillaries break, platelets rush in, and they release growth factors that reduce inflammation and trigger healing.
Ancient words, modern science
Traditional doctors said: “move blood, remove stagnation.”
Modern medicine says: “activate platelets, repair tissue.”
Different language, same truth.
Why athletes love it
Faster recovery
Less soreness
Better flexibility
Why you may try it
From stiff shoulders to back pain, cupping gently wakes up your body’s own repair system.
What it is not
❌ Not pulling out toxins
❌ Darker marks ≠ better effect
❌ Not for everyone — consult if you have bleeding problems or fragile skin
Think of it this way
Doctors today use PRP injections: they take your blood, concentrate platelets, and inject them to speed healing.
Cupping is the original, natural version — no needles, no lab, just simple negative pressure.
Conclusion
Cupping is more than a trend. It is an ancient practice confirmed by modern science — a natural “wake-up call” for your healing power

08/20/2025

✨ Chronic pain has never been a simple problem. ✨ After reading Integrative Pain Management: Massage, Movement, and Mindfulness-Based Approaches, I was deeply inspired: true healing doesn’t come from a single method, but from different therapies working together. 🤝 Physical therapy helps restore movement and function. 🤝 Chiropractic and osteopathy bring structural balance. 🤝 Massage and manual therapy release muscle tension. 🤝 Mindfulness and movement retrain how the brain perceives pain. 🤝 And acupuncture helps regulate the nervous system, reduce inflammation, and restore mind–body balance. When these approaches come together at the right time, patients can achieve not just temporary relief, but lasting recovery. 📖 This book holds special meaning for our clinic, because on the second page, the author personally signed it and dedicated it to us. Receiving such recognition and encouragement strengthens our commitment to advancing integrative, team-based care. 🌿 Our mission is to build a collaborative circle of care—where therapists support one another, share patients when needed, and step in at the most crucial moments—so that every patient receives the highest level of treatment. 🌿

08/19/2025

👉Key Therapeutic Strategies
Targeted Acupuncture → Precise needle insertion directed at areas of abdominal hypertonicity and adhesions to achieve focal release.
Myofascial Release → Enhancement of local microcirculation and reduction of compressive stress through fascial decompression.
Manual Therapy Integration → Application of adjunctive manipulative techniques to assist in the breakdown of fibrotic adhesions.

👆In just a few images and words, we shared a glimpse of one woman’s journey — how acupuncture was applied to relieve abdominal pain. What you see here is only a small reflection of our work, a window into the thinking and techniques behind acupuncture. It is not, and cannot be, the full story of treatment.
This post is meant as a piece of education and inspiration — to show how acupuncture, in its subtle yet powerful way, can restore freedom, balance, and joy to the body.
We warmly welcome you to visit our clinic whenever you feel the need, and to experience for yourself the comfort and happiness that acupuncture can bring.

👉👉 Before acupuncture was introduced, the patient had undergone the necessary medical examinations and conventional treatments to rule out other possibilities. Acupuncture was applied only after these options had been excluded.

👉https://www.zhenliacupuncture.ca/fr

08/18/2025

Key Steps in Precision Treatment:

Precise Point Selection: Directly targeting the affected spinal segments, combined with adjunct points at the shoulder, neck, lumbar, hip, and gluteal regions as well as distal acupoints, to improve circulation of qi and blood, and to unblock the meridians.
Stepwise Progression: High-frequency sessions in the initial phase to control inflammation and muscle spasm, followed by consolidation of therapeutic effects in the middle and later stages.
Functional Training: Once pain is alleviated, incorporating mobility exercises for the cervical, shoulder, lumbar, hip, and gluteal regions to prevent recurrence.
Patient Compliance: Adherence to scheduled treatments and ergonomic adjustment of working posture to ensure sustained efficacy.
zhenliacupuncture.ca

08/18/2025

Key Steps in Precision Treatment:

Precise Point Selection: Directly targeting the affected spinal segments, combined with adjunct points at the shoulder, neck, lumbar, hip, and gluteal regions as well as distal acupoints, to improve circulation of qi and blood, and to unblock the meridians.
Stepwise Progression: High-frequency sessions in the initial phase to control inflammation and muscle spasm, followed by consolidation of therapeutic effects in the middle and later stages.
Functional Training: Once pain is alleviated, incorporating mobility exercises for the cervical, shoulder, lumbar, hip, and gluteal regions to prevent recurrence.
Patient Compliance: Adherence to scheduled treatments and ergonomic adjustment of working posture to ensure sustained efficacy.

zhenliacupuncture.ca

08/16/2025

Your pain has long been “written” into your posture
— Montreal Li Zhen Acupuncture Clinic

Lisa, 35, works long hours at a desk. One morning she noticed her arm couldn’t lift fully, her shoulder felt tied by invisible strings, and even turning her head was painful.
This is not from one big injury, but from years of muscle tension, tight fascia, and restricted joints. Pain slowly changes daily life: smaller movements, uneven walking, stiff starts after sitting, and even facial expressions that reveal discomfort.
Why it happens:
Long hours in one position
Lack of exercise
Ignoring small aches until they build up
If untreated: neck pain can cause headaches or numbness, shoulder stiffness makes daily tasks harder, and back or knee pain may spread to the legs and feet.
Acupuncture can help:
Relieve pain and inflammation
Restore flexibility and mobility
Prevent relapse with posture and lifestyle advice
✨ Don’t wait until you can’t move. Start with gentle, precise acupuncture.
📍 zhenliacupuncture.ca
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Zhen Li Acupuncture

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