02/08/2023
Grateful to be featured at the national newsletter of Sports Medicine Acupuncture:
https://www.sportsmedicineacupuncture.com/testament-to-sports-medicine-acupuncture-education/
I just wanted to take a moment and say “Thank you.” Here’s a testament for the power of sports medicine acupuncture education and a peek at how it helped us at San Diego Sports Acupuncture steer patients in the right clinical direction.
Below is a “Thank you” email I received from one of our patients who came in to see me over a year ago.
This 66 year old patient complained of debilitating pain in his lower ribs and abdomen. He told me that he saw over 13 different doctors and no one could figure it out.
He was put through all sorts of diagnostic procedures, such as ultrasounds, CT scans etc., all trying to figure out his problem at the organ level.
When I first saw him, I found severe scoliosis and, thanks to the teachings of the Sport Medicine Acupuncture Certification (SMAC), it made a lot of sense to first check how likely are his symptoms to be coming from his spine.
With further assessment, it looked more and more like that was the case—a severe nerve impingement of T10/T11 exiting nerves, likely due to degenerative changes in his Thoracolumbar junction.
Here’s what he wrote to me a few days ago:
"Hi Doc! I hope you remember me from about a year ago, but I am writing to let you know that your diagnosis of referred pain emanating from my spine was in fact the true source of my side and abdominal unrelenting and debilitating pain. You put me on the correct trail and with perseverance this past two years, using your diagnosis, the wonderful pain management doctor at Pacific Pain Management verified through MRI what the radiologist reported: Severe Central Spinal Canal Stenosis With Cord Compression and Concern for Myelopathy at T10-T11. They got me into surgery on April 28th of this year and after 6 months of recovery including 5 months of PT, my life is livable once again. I’ll never forget what you did by guiding me in the right direction so a big thanks and sincere gratitude to you, Doc. ❤️❤️
— John W."
This speaks loud and clear about the power of sports medicine acupuncture education!