Can alternative therapies like acupuncture truly rival conventional pain medications in effectiveness? Join us on this enlightening episode of "Balancing Life in Medicine," where we're honored to have Dr. DeWayne Baugus, a licensed acupuncture physician in Florida, share his valuable insights. Broadcasting from his Tulsa, Oklahoma clinic, Dr. Baugus dives into the complexities of treating musculoskeletal pain, particularly low back pain and sciatic nerve pain, using acupuncture and oriental medicine. He emphasizes the critical role of imaging and patient history in crafting tailored treatment plans and discusses how complementary therapies like massage and chiropractic care can enhance the overall healing process.
Dr. Baugus also demystifies acupuncture, addressing common misconceptions and explaining how it can provide pain relief without the adverse side effects of conventional medications. He discusses the sensations patients might experience during treatment and underscores the importance of patient comfort and trust. By combining the best of Eastern and Western medical practices, Dr. Baugus promotes a holistic approach to pain management that aims to restore balance and improve overall well-being. This episode is packed with indispensable advice for anyone seeking natural and effective pain relief solutions. Don’t miss out on this comprehensive discussion that could change the way you approach managing pain.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. DeWayne Baugus (00:06):
Thank you for joining us today on
Balancing Life in Medicine.
I'm Dr DeWayne Baugus, anacupuncture physician, licensed
in the state of Florida as aprimary care physician.
I'm coming to you today fromTulsa, Oklahoma.
My wife and I have a clinichere and one of the things that
we see quite often here at theclinic is musculoskeletal issues
or pain.
(00:26):
Pain management is somethingthat acupuncture and oriental
medicine is very familiar with.
In fact, a lot of my Westernmedicine physicians refer to us
many times when there's a pain,an issue, even an addiction
problem, sometimes from painmedications.
I'm getting a lot of referralsI'll make a long story short
(00:48):
with the Western medicine worldusing acupuncture to help manage
pain.
So there's many types of painthat we work with.
I'll go over some familiar onesthat are always hot topics Back
pain, but not just back pain,usually low back pain, sciatic
nerve issues.
(01:09):
Nerve damage will go up thespine.
The thoracic and cervical spineareas are also Our spine in
general is always a source ofsome kind of pain at some point
in our life, of some kind ofpain at some point in her life.
So let's dive into what thatlooks like if you were to come
(01:30):
in for a pain managementtreatment, and I'll start with
the beautiful example of sciaticpain low back pain.
If you're not familiar withsciatic pain, take a second and
just it's safe to do this one.
You can Google sciatic pain.
I don't always recommend Google, but look up the definition.
Just don't get sideways on it,because Google doctors are
(01:54):
horrible.
If you're a Google doctor, youknow to calm yourself down every
once in a while when you getout there in left field just
Googling everything.
But sciatic pain is somethingthat we do treat quite
effectively with acupuncture andwhen a patient comes in they're
always asking me becausethey've sometimes never had
acupuncture before doesacupuncture help?
And I usually respond with well, let's talk about that pain
(02:20):
that you have.
Let's talk about your sciaticpain.
Let's talk about what caused it, because sometimes acupuncture
is not the right method, it'snot the right approach, or maybe
we're referring you out foranother therapy, another
treatment, something that's moreeffective.
Understand a lot of us that aretrained as far as acupuncture
physicians, doctors of orientalmedicine at least I can speak
(02:44):
for the state I was trained in,which was Florida.
We're trained very extensivelyon Western medicine as well as
Eastern medicine.
Our job is to fill in the gapwhenever there's a problem with
your doctor's treatment methodor the hospital's treatment
method and it just doesn't fallin that space where a patient
understands or doesn't feelright for the patient, usually
(03:05):
we're the first ones they run toas far as alternative therapies
, and our job is to help thepatient understand.
Yes, your doctor was correct,you do need this scan, this MRI,
this x-ray, or you do needphysical therapy, or maybe an
injection would be good for you.
And other times we'd maybe sayno, you're at the right place.
(03:27):
Acupuncture can help, possiblyeven massage therapy can help.
There's another route we cantake to fix this problem or help
you with the pain, but that's alarge scale.
So some individuals come in withsevere sciatic pain and it's
not just because maybe theyslept wrong or they did a
workout wrong.
More of they had a trauma.
(03:48):
They were in a car accident,they fell In the wintertime it's
always the ice.
Patients are falling, slippingon the ice, and they land right
on their bumper and that sciaticnerve gets bumped or gets
aggravated and they show up hereand they go hey, look, can you
help?
So we'll always, always ask forx-rays or imaging Whenever you
(04:12):
come in with a pain like sciatic.
I want to know everything Ipossibly can about what's going
on.
It's going to give me arealistic perspective of can I
help, or what to expect thetreatments to be able to do for
you.
What should I plant as far asan expectation in your mind of
when things should get better,as well as what kind of
exercises, stretches, or maybeeven chiropractic, what kind of
(04:35):
manipulations, what's the bestapproach?
That's always going to bestarting in that imaging.
We have to make sure that thebody can recover.
It's recoverable and doesn'tneed more extensive work, maybe
like a back surgery, some discwork.
All those things are what wediscuss in that intake.
(04:55):
So sciatic pain can happen formultiple reasons.
It could even come from and theproblems as far as nutritional
sometimes B12, or we havedeficiencies, we're not eating
right, we're not giving the bodywhat it needs to maintain
itself.
So things start to collapse andsometimes that sciatic area is
(05:16):
the first one to talk to us andif you've ever had sciatic pain,
it doesn't talk, it screams,it's loud, it's obnoxious and it
stops us in our tracks.
So that first intake, thatfirst consultation if you're
coming at me with sciatic pain,I'm going to want to see imaging
, and I'm telling you thisbecause you may not be in the
Tulsa area, you may be anywherein the United States, but if
(05:42):
you're looking for anacupuncture physician and you
have sciatic pain and if youdon't ask for imaging and they
just tell you that they can help, it doesn't matter.
It's time to back out of thatone.
We're trained to look at imaging.
We're trained to look ateverything across the board.
We want to take everything fromeach medicine that we're
trained and apply it to yourtreatment and what's going to
help you get better faster.
So imaging, we'll be discussingthat.
(06:05):
So bring in your MRIs, bring inyour x-rays.
The other thing is looking atyour previous history, and when
I say previous history, we'renot just talking about sciatic
pain, we're talking about anykind of pain in the body now.
So if we're getting intocervical pain, if we're getting
into that neck area, essentiallyI'll want that imaging again.
(06:26):
Right, step one give me imaging.
Tell me what therapies you'vereceived, tell me what you've
been through.
We want that history.
What's worked, what hasn'tworked.
Many times with cervical pain orneck pain, which I see a lot of
, we see a lot of it because,well, people are cranked down on
their cell phones right, theirheads are completely bent out of
(06:47):
shape or they're laying in bedat night and they're looking at
their cell phone and they alwayscome in and say I can't.
My pinkies and ring finger arenumb and I don't know why.
I think there's something wrongwith my hand and I'm going no,
there's.
No, it's not your hand, it'syour neck.
Now, granted, sometimes thereis something wrong with the hand
(07:09):
.
We smash it, we hit it, there'ssomething, the trauma that
happens to it or some familyhistory.
Things can pop up like triggerfinger, things like that, and
we'll evaluate those in thatfirst consultation.
But understanding that we cantreat cervical pain, but we also
have to do a background checkon it.
We have to reverse engineer itso figuring out is it a hand
(07:33):
problem or is it a neck problem?
And we go into those details.
Many times I'll have a patientthat comes in and they say I've
got terrible hand pain, I'vebeen through therapy, I've got
injections.
It keeps coming back.
I just can't figure out what'sgoing on with my hand.
And I'll ask them well, youcome in for hand pain, but do
(07:56):
you have any imaging?
Has anyone ever talked to youabout your neck?
We have to do an investigation.
Sometimes the pinched nerve inthe neck causes the hand to go
numb or causes muscles toatrophy.
In other words, it's not alwaysyour hand that's the problem.
And unfortunately in somespheres of medicine when a
patient comes in and they sayI've got hand pain, the doctor
(08:17):
only looks at the hand.
It can happen the same way withfoot pain and sciatic issues.
Sometimes a patient will havefoot pain before they'll ever
notice any low back issues orlow back pain.
So they'll go to a podiatristand that podiatrist is trained
to check out that foot to makesure everything is working in
that foot.
They'll even create the mostextravagant orthotics.
(08:42):
They've got these greatplatforms, they've got all kinds
of things that they'll throw inthere and sometimes you're
paying hundreds of dollars forthese orthotics.
They've got these greatplatforms, they've got all kinds
of things that they'll throw inthere and sometimes you're
paying hundreds of dollars forthese orthotics just to realize,
yeah, it didn't work.
And why didn't it work?
They?
I went to the foot guy.
He was the foot doctor.
He spent his whole life goingto the foot college right.
But the problem wasn't in thefoot, it was in the low back.
(09:02):
No one ever looked at the lowback.
So that's my job.
When you come in and you got apain, I'm going to be reverse
engineering.
Where's that pain coming from?
When did it start?
And let's look at it and findthe root cause.
Many times acupuncture andoriental medicine physicians are
looking for the root cause, notjust it's an owie, fix it.
(09:23):
We wanna know what caused theowie to be a problem in the
first place.
If it's repetitive activity, wehave something we call mouse
syndrome.
Yeah, that's right, that'swhere you're on your computer
mouse, yeah, and that elbowstarts to burn and you start to
have elbow issues and the neckis cranked sideways and the hand
doesn't work and there's aproblem and there's pain.
(09:43):
And so we start to figure outmaybe a more organic or
ergonomic I think Ergonomic yeah, we'll use that one Ergonomic
way of using that mouse, maybefinding you a new mouse pad, or
also maybe setting your desk atdifferent levels.
We have those discussions andthat will change how your hand
(10:05):
works.
Or possibly the impingement inyour neck will start to back up
if the muscles are tightening up.
So when it comes tomusculoskeletal issues,
acupuncture and orientalmedicine is great.
We will look at the beginningto the end and we try to find
that root cause.
And even if we do find that rootcause and there's nothing we
can do about it, our job is torefer you to the individual that
(10:29):
can help you.
In other words, we'rephysicians and our first oath is
to do no harm.
Now, for some reason, thehealthcare field is taking away
the do no harm part, or peopleare just conveniently forgetting
that we're not just here tomake money off of you.
We're here to be a part of yourcommunity.
We're here to help ourcommunity grow healthier and
(10:52):
happier and more educated.
And, believe it or not,physicians are educators.
Our job is to teach you aboutyour body.
How does your body work?
Why does it work this way?
Why does it work that way?
Why does it hurt when I smashmy finger with a hammer?
Yes, I've had those discussions.
We won't get into that.
That was another time andanother patient, but you kind of
(11:13):
get the picture.
Sometimes we're doing somethingand we don't realize what we're
doing is causing us physicalpain.
It's part of our routine, maybeit's our workout, but my job
will be to help you find outwhat that problem is, how to fix
it, how to alleviate it, andthere's always the follow-up
(11:35):
question if it's not the veryfirst question I get for a
patient who's never hadacupuncture before and they're
in there for pain management andthat is does acupuncture hurt?
And the answer is well, no, no,it shouldn't Believe it or not.
There's a few things that Ilike to tell the patient before
(11:58):
we get started in thosetreatments.
As far as they're in charge ofthe treatment, now, that is
something that I have learnedover the years as far as working
with individuals who haven'tslept for days because they're
in pain, they're uncomfortablebecause they're in pain, they're
grouchy, so they're not thebest patients that come in.
They're hurting, they'resuffering, they're struggling,
they're uncomfortable becausethey're in pain, they're grouchy
(12:19):
, so they're not the bestpatients that come in.
They're hurting, they'resuffering, they're struggling.
They're there for help, butalso they're sensitive, so
they're worried about pain, ormaybe they're afraid of pain and
they don't want more of it.
So when they ask aboutacupuncture and does it hurt?
I like to go through a series ofthings to let them know that
they're in charge of thetreatment and why I don't want
them to be in pain.
(12:39):
So no, the treatment shouldn'thurt you.
The needles do have a sensationand that sensation can be dull,
achy, heavy or warm.
Those are normal and sometimesa little bit of a sticking
sensation because we are usingpins and the nervous system will
respond, but it never should beanything that's excruciating.
(13:02):
We're not trying to cover upyour original pain by
stimulating another area andcreating more pain.
That's not how acupunctureworks.
We're not doing that.
We're not doing that.
What we're doing is we'reensuring that the nervous system
responds to us in such a mannerthat it starts to relax the
body and focus on the painregion so that your body can
(13:22):
relax, come out of thatprotective spasm or an
inflammation, so we can getblood to circulate around the
problem area and help the bodyget back to a balance what we
like to call homeostasis.
So the patient is always incharge in our clinic.
Whenever they sit down and Istart working on them, I always
(13:44):
have to make sure that they'recomfortable and that they're not
anxious.
So finding a comfortableposition or chair or table is
always priority what's going tobe best for you and your comfort
.
The other step is that you'rerelaxed with me, that you trust
me and you know that I'm tryingto help, I'm not trying to hurt,
(14:05):
and that you're in charge of me.
You're actually my boss.
Now I'm going to get a lot ofkickback from this.
Physicians want to be in chargeand they want to know better
than the patient and they feelthat they know better and
they're going to force a patientthrough some, some procedures
and situations.
That is not how I work.
If you've seen any of myprevious videos, you'll know
that I'm extremely sensitive toemotions and emotional balance,
(14:28):
anxiety and fear.
So if the patient has fear, ifthey have anxiety, and I start
to work on them, they're goingto tense up even more, not to
mention if I inflict pain.
That means their nervous systemis then going to be on the
defensive.
So you're going to tighten up,you're going to be in fight or
flight, your cortisol is goingto go through the roof, you're
(14:48):
not relaxing.
In fact, we might as well throwthat whole treatment out the
window.
So, to answer the big questiondoes acupuncture hurt?
No, it should not hurt.
The sensations that you get fromacupuncture the most extreme
ones I'm right there with you.
The physician that's workingwith you is going to be right
there with you, because they'regoing to be applying the points
(15:11):
and you need to voice youropinion.
If this bothers you too much, Ineed to know so.
Tell the physician.
This hurts, this doesn't feelright.
They're going to remove that.
Paint over with and gone.
That's the right approach to it.
Sometimes there's a strongsensation with the needles and
that dull, achy, heavy, warmfeeling that we discussed
(15:33):
earlier.
That may be very strong.
That's okay.
What we're looking for is about30 to 60 seconds.
That sensation should start todiminish.
Everything should start torelax.
So if you give the points time,if you give the physician time
to keep working with you andgive those points that maybe are
(15:53):
a little bit more active thanyou expected, maybe more than
you imagined, voice that to us,let us know.
We're going to keep our eye onthat point.
Make sure it doesn't hurt youtoo much.
Nine times out of 10, thesensation is calmed down in less
than 30 seconds andeverything's fine.
So thank you for joining metoday talking about
(16:15):
musculoskeletal pain painmanagement.
I know you have a lot ofquestions.
There's a lot of things outthere that acupuncture can cover
and help you with.
It's not just limited tosciatic and neck pain.
It's pain just about anywhereon the body.
We'd love to help you.
We'd love to help you getbetter, naturally, holistically,
without all the medicationsthat can cause so many other
(16:37):
issues.
I'm Dr DeWayne Baugus.
This has been Balancing Life inMedicine.
I look forward to the nextvideo with you.
Thank you for joining us today on
Balancing Life in Medicine.
I'm Dr DeWayne Baugus, anacupuncture physician, licensed
in the state of Florida as aprimary care physician.
I'm coming to you today fromTulsa, Oklahoma.
My wife and I have a clinichere and one of the things that
we see quite often here at theclinic is musculoskeletal issues
or pain.
(00:26):
Pain management is somethingthat acupuncture and oriental
medicine is very familiar with.
In fact, a lot of my Westernmedicine physicians refer to us
many times when there's a pain,an issue, even an addiction
problem, sometimes from painmedications.
I'm getting a lot of referralsI'll make a long story short
(00:48):
with the Western medicine worldusing acupuncture to help manage
pain.
So there's many types of painthat we work with.
I'll go over some familiar onesthat are always hot topics Back
pain, but not just back pain,usually low back pain, sciatic
nerve issues.
(01:09):
Nerve damage will go up thespine.
The thoracic and cervical spineareas are also Our spine in
general is always a source ofsome kind of pain at some point
in our life, of some kind ofpain at some point in her life.
So let's dive into what thatlooks like if you were to come
(01:30):
in for a pain managementtreatment, and I'll start with
the beautiful example of sciaticpain low back pain.
If you're not familiar withsciatic pain, take a second and
just it's safe to do this one.
You can Google sciatic pain.
I don't always recommend Google, but look up the definition.
Just don't get sideways on it,because Google doctors are
(01:54):
horrible.
If you're a Google doctor, youknow to calm yourself down every
once in a while when you getout there in left field just
Googling everything.
But sciatic pain is somethingthat we do treat quite
effectively with acupuncture andwhen a patient comes in they're
always asking me becausethey've sometimes never had
acupuncture before doesacupuncture help?
And I usually respond with well, let's talk about that pain
(02:20):
that you have.
Let's talk about your sciaticpain.
Let's talk about what caused it, because sometimes acupuncture
is not the right method, it'snot the right approach, or maybe
we're referring you out foranother therapy, another
treatment, something that's moreeffective.
Understand a lot of us that aretrained as far as acupuncture
physicians, doctors of orientalmedicine at least I can speak
(02:44):
for the state I was trained in,which was Florida.
We're trained very extensivelyon Western medicine as well as
Eastern medicine.
Our job is to fill in the gapwhenever there's a problem with
your doctor's treatment methodor the hospital's treatment
method and it just doesn't fallin that space where a patient
understands or doesn't feelright for the patient, usually
(03:05):
we're the first ones they run toas far as alternative therapies
, and our job is to help thepatient understand.
Yes, your doctor was correct,you do need this scan, this MRI,
this x-ray, or you do needphysical therapy, or maybe an
injection would be good for you.
And other times we'd maybe sayno, you're at the right place.
(03:27):
Acupuncture can help, possiblyeven massage therapy can help.
There's another route we cantake to fix this problem or help
you with the pain, but that's alarge scale.
So some individuals come in withsevere sciatic pain and it's
not just because maybe theyslept wrong or they did a
workout wrong.
More of they had a trauma.
(03:48):
They were in a car accident,they fell In the wintertime it's
always the ice.
Patients are falling, slippingon the ice, and they land right
on their bumper and that sciaticnerve gets bumped or gets
aggravated and they show up hereand they go hey, look, can you
help?
So we'll always, always ask forx-rays or imaging Whenever you
(04:12):
come in with a pain like sciatic.
I want to know everything Ipossibly can about what's going
on.
It's going to give me arealistic perspective of can I
help, or what to expect thetreatments to be able to do for
you.
What should I plant as far asan expectation in your mind of
when things should get better,as well as what kind of
exercises, stretches, or maybeeven chiropractic, what kind of
(04:35):
manipulations, what's the bestapproach?
That's always going to bestarting in that imaging.
We have to make sure that thebody can recover.
It's recoverable and doesn'tneed more extensive work, maybe
like a back surgery, some discwork.
All those things are what wediscuss in that intake.
(04:55):
So sciatic pain can happen formultiple reasons.
It could even come from and theproblems as far as nutritional
sometimes B12, or we havedeficiencies, we're not eating
right, we're not giving the bodywhat it needs to maintain
itself.
So things start to collapse andsometimes that sciatic area is
(05:16):
the first one to talk to us andif you've ever had sciatic pain,
it doesn't talk, it screams,it's loud, it's obnoxious and it
stops us in our tracks.
So that first intake, thatfirst consultation if you're
coming at me with sciatic pain,I'm going to want to see imaging
, and I'm telling you thisbecause you may not be in the
Tulsa area, you may be anywherein the United States, but if
(05:42):
you're looking for anacupuncture physician and you
have sciatic pain and if youdon't ask for imaging and they
just tell you that they can help, it doesn't matter.
It's time to back out of thatone.
We're trained to look at imaging.
We're trained to look ateverything across the board.
We want to take everything fromeach medicine that we're
trained and apply it to yourtreatment and what's going to
help you get better faster.
So imaging, we'll be discussingthat.
(06:05):
So bring in your MRIs, bring inyour x-rays.
The other thing is looking atyour previous history, and when
I say previous history, we'renot just talking about sciatic
pain, we're talking about anykind of pain in the body now.
So if we're getting intocervical pain, if we're getting
into that neck area, essentiallyI'll want that imaging again.
(06:26):
Right, step one give me imaging.
Tell me what therapies you'vereceived, tell me what you've
been through.
We want that history.
What's worked, what hasn'tworked.
Many times with cervical pain orneck pain, which I see a lot of
, we see a lot of it because,well, people are cranked down on
their cell phones right, theirheads are completely bent out of
(06:47):
shape or they're laying in bedat night and they're looking at
their cell phone and they alwayscome in and say I can't.
My pinkies and ring finger arenumb and I don't know why.
I think there's something wrongwith my hand and I'm going no,
there's.
No, it's not your hand, it'syour neck.
Now, granted, sometimes thereis something wrong with the hand
(07:09):
.
We smash it, we hit it, there'ssomething, the trauma that
happens to it or some familyhistory.
Things can pop up like triggerfinger, things like that, and
we'll evaluate those in thatfirst consultation.
But understanding that we cantreat cervical pain, but we also
have to do a background checkon it.
We have to reverse engineer itso figuring out is it a hand
(07:33):
problem or is it a neck problem?
And we go into those details.
Many times I'll have a patientthat comes in and they say I've
got terrible hand pain, I'vebeen through therapy, I've got
injections.
It keeps coming back.
I just can't figure out what'sgoing on with my hand.
And I'll ask them well, youcome in for hand pain, but do
(07:56):
you have any imaging?
Has anyone ever talked to youabout your neck?
We have to do an investigation.
Sometimes the pinched nerve inthe neck causes the hand to go
numb or causes muscles toatrophy.
In other words, it's not alwaysyour hand that's the problem.
And unfortunately in somespheres of medicine when a
patient comes in and they sayI've got hand pain, the doctor
(08:17):
only looks at the hand.
It can happen the same way withfoot pain and sciatic issues.
Sometimes a patient will havefoot pain before they'll ever
notice any low back issues orlow back pain.
So they'll go to a podiatristand that podiatrist is trained
to check out that foot to makesure everything is working in
that foot.
They'll even create the mostextravagant orthotics.
(08:42):
They've got these greatplatforms, they've got all kinds
of things that they'll throw inthere and sometimes you're
paying hundreds of dollars forthese orthotics.
They've got these greatplatforms, they've got all kinds
of things that they'll throw inthere and sometimes you're
paying hundreds of dollars forthese orthotics just to realize,
yeah, it didn't work.
And why didn't it work?
They?
I went to the foot guy.
He was the foot doctor.
He spent his whole life goingto the foot college right.
But the problem wasn't in thefoot, it was in the low back.
(09:02):
No one ever looked at the lowback.
So that's my job.
When you come in and you got apain, I'm going to be reverse
engineering.
Where's that pain coming from?
When did it start?
And let's look at it and findthe root cause.
Many times acupuncture andoriental medicine physicians are
looking for the root cause, notjust it's an owie, fix it.
(09:23):
We wanna know what caused theowie to be a problem in the
first place.
If it's repetitive activity, wehave something we call mouse
syndrome.
Yeah, that's right, that'swhere you're on your computer
mouse, yeah, and that elbowstarts to burn and you start to
have elbow issues and the neckis cranked sideways and the hand
doesn't work and there's aproblem and there's pain.
(09:43):
And so we start to figure outmaybe a more organic or
ergonomic I think Ergonomic yeah, we'll use that one Ergonomic
way of using that mouse, maybefinding you a new mouse pad, or
also maybe setting your desk atdifferent levels.
We have those discussions andthat will change how your hand
(10:05):
works.
Or possibly the impingement inyour neck will start to back up
if the muscles are tightening up.
So when it comes tomusculoskeletal issues,
acupuncture and orientalmedicine is great.
We will look at the beginningto the end and we try to find
that root cause.
And even if we do find that rootcause and there's nothing we
can do about it, our job is torefer you to the individual that
(10:29):
can help you.
In other words, we'rephysicians and our first oath is
to do no harm.
Now, for some reason, thehealthcare field is taking away
the do no harm part, or peopleare just conveniently forgetting
that we're not just here tomake money off of you.
We're here to be a part of yourcommunity.
We're here to help ourcommunity grow healthier and
(10:52):
happier and more educated.
And, believe it or not,physicians are educators.
Our job is to teach you aboutyour body.
How does your body work?
Why does it work this way?
Why does it work that way?
Why does it hurt when I smashmy finger with a hammer?
Yes, I've had those discussions.
We won't get into that.
That was another time andanother patient, but you kind of
(11:13):
get the picture.
Sometimes we're doing somethingand we don't realize what we're
doing is causing us physicalpain.
It's part of our routine, maybeit's our workout, but my job
will be to help you find outwhat that problem is, how to fix
it, how to alleviate it, andthere's always the follow-up
(11:35):
question if it's not the veryfirst question I get for a
patient who's never hadacupuncture before and they're
in there for pain management andthat is does acupuncture hurt?
And the answer is well, no, no,it shouldn't Believe it or not.
There's a few things that Ilike to tell the patient before
(11:58):
we get started in thosetreatments.
As far as they're in charge ofthe treatment, now, that is
something that I have learnedover the years as far as working
with individuals who haven'tslept for days because they're
in pain, they're uncomfortablebecause they're in pain, they're
grouchy, so they're not thebest patients that come in.
They're hurting, they'resuffering, they're struggling,
they're uncomfortable becausethey're in pain, they're grouchy
(12:19):
, so they're not the bestpatients that come in.
They're hurting, they'resuffering, they're struggling.
They're there for help, butalso they're sensitive, so
they're worried about pain, ormaybe they're afraid of pain and
they don't want more of it.
So when they ask aboutacupuncture and does it hurt?
I like to go through a series ofthings to let them know that
they're in charge of thetreatment and why I don't want
them to be in pain.
(12:39):
So no, the treatment shouldn'thurt you.
The needles do have a sensationand that sensation can be dull,
achy, heavy or warm.
Those are normal and sometimesa little bit of a sticking
sensation because we are usingpins and the nervous system will
respond, but it never should beanything that's excruciating.
(13:02):
We're not trying to cover upyour original pain by
stimulating another area andcreating more pain.
That's not how acupunctureworks.
We're not doing that.
We're not doing that.
What we're doing is we'reensuring that the nervous system
responds to us in such a mannerthat it starts to relax the
body and focus on the painregion so that your body can
(13:22):
relax, come out of thatprotective spasm or an
inflammation, so we can getblood to circulate around the
problem area and help the bodyget back to a balance what we
like to call homeostasis.
So the patient is always incharge in our clinic.
Whenever they sit down and Istart working on them, I always
(13:44):
have to make sure that they'recomfortable and that they're not
anxious.
So finding a comfortableposition or chair or table is
always priority what's going tobe best for you and your comfort
.
The other step is that you'rerelaxed with me, that you trust
me and you know that I'm tryingto help, I'm not trying to hurt,
(14:05):
and that you're in charge of me.
You're actually my boss.
Now I'm going to get a lot ofkickback from this.
Physicians want to be in chargeand they want to know better
than the patient and they feelthat they know better and
they're going to force a patientthrough some, some procedures
and situations.
That is not how I work.
If you've seen any of myprevious videos, you'll know
that I'm extremely sensitive toemotions and emotional balance,
(14:28):
anxiety and fear.
So if the patient has fear, ifthey have anxiety, and I start
to work on them, they're goingto tense up even more, not to
mention if I inflict pain.
That means their nervous systemis then going to be on the
defensive.
So you're going to tighten up,you're going to be in fight or
flight, your cortisol is goingto go through the roof, you're
(14:48):
not relaxing.
In fact, we might as well throwthat whole treatment out the
window.
So, to answer the big questiondoes acupuncture hurt?
No, it should not hurt.
The sensations that you get fromacupuncture the most extreme
ones I'm right there with you.
The physician that's workingwith you is going to be right
there with you, because they'regoing to be applying the points
(15:11):
and you need to voice youropinion.
If this bothers you too much, Ineed to know so.
Tell the physician.
This hurts, this doesn't feelright.
They're going to remove that.
Paint over with and gone.
That's the right approach to it.
Sometimes there's a strongsensation with the needles and
that dull, achy, heavy, warmfeeling that we discussed
(15:33):
earlier.
That may be very strong.
That's okay.
What we're looking for is about30 to 60 seconds.
That sensation should start todiminish.
Everything should start torelax.
So if you give the points time,if you give the physician time
to keep working with you andgive those points that maybe are
(15:53):
a little bit more active thanyou expected, maybe more than
you imagined, voice that to us,let us know.
We're going to keep our eye onthat point.
Make sure it doesn't hurt youtoo much.
Nine times out of 10, thesensation is calmed down in less
than 30 seconds andeverything's fine.
So thank you for joining metoday talking about
(16:15):
musculoskeletal pain painmanagement.
I know you have a lot ofquestions.
There's a lot of things outthere that acupuncture can cover
and help you with.
It's not just limited tosciatic and neck pain.
It's pain just about anywhereon the body.
We'd love to help you.
We'd love to help you getbetter, naturally, holistically,
without all the medicationsthat can cause so many other
(16:37):
issues.
I'm Dr DeWayne Baugus.
This has been Balancing Life inMedicine.
I look forward to the nextvideo with you.
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