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Abstract: This patient is a basketball fan. Although he had shoulder pain in the past, he did not pay attention to it or treat it because it did not affect his life and activities. Recently, he came to our hospital because of a sudden increase in pain during exercise. After a series of tests, the patient was initially diagnosed with rotator cuff bruising. After treatment with acupuncture and tui-na, the patient’s symptoms have now improved.
Basic information】Male, 30 years old
Disease Type】Bruising (rotator cuff bruising)
Hospital】Guanganmen Hospital, Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Date of consultation】June 2021
Treatment plan】Therapeutic treatment (acupuncture, acupressure)
Treatment Period】3 weeks of treatment, outpatient follow-up
Treatment effect】The patient’s condition was relieved
I. Initial consultation
The patient, Mr. Li, is a sports enthusiast and often plays basketball with his friends, but because he fell during basketball a few days ago, he landed on his left shoulder. The examination suggested that Mr. Li had bleeding and edema in the rotator cuff tissue, and he was immediately admitted to our hospital for treatment.
After careful questioning, we learned that the patient had had shoulder discomfort in the past, and often experienced popping and slight pain when turning the shoulder joint, but because the effect was not significant at the time, he did not pay attention to it and did not receive treatment. The initial diagnosis of rotator cuff bruising was made by combining the patient’s previous examinations.
II. Treatment history
The principle of treatment was to relieve tendons and channels, activate blood circulation and relieve pain, including acupuncture and massage treatment. The patient agreed to the treatment plan after understanding the situation. Tui-na was performed gently and gently, to the extent of soreness and swelling, to relax the tendons and activate the blood, accelerate the absorption of inflammatory exudates, and promote the repair of the lesioned tissues. After the tui-na treatment, acupuncture was performed. The common acupuncture points included shoulder points, Tianzong point, Bingfeng point, Ququ Yuan point, Shoulder Shen point, and Shoulder Zhen point, which could activate blood circulation, remove blood stasis, and relieve pain. Immediately after the treatment, the patient felt a significant reduction in pain and decided to continue the treatment.
III. Treatment effect
After 1 week of treatment, the patient returned to the clinic and complained that the pain had been significantly reduced, but the pain was still present when performing movements such as abduction of the shoulder joint. After 1 week of treatment, the patient’s symptoms had improved significantly. The patient’s rotator cuff tissues were not bleeding or edematous, and there was no pain or limitation of movement in the shoulder joint.
IV. Notes
I am glad to see the patient’s symptoms gradually reduced, but I still need to remind the patient to pay attention to some matters during and after the treatment.
1. When the shoulder joint pain and limitation of movement occur, I reminded the patient to take brake rest in time to avoid aggravation of symptoms due to continued movement of the shoulder joint.
2. It is recommended to consume collagen-rich foods, including pig’s feet, chicken feet, pork skin, fish skin, soybeans, etc., but avoid stimulating foods such as chili peppers, and avoid smoking and alcohol.
3. Daily, you can improve the blood circulation around the shoulder by commonly using hot towels for wet compresses, massage, and if possible, infrared light irradiation treatment. In addition, it is necessary to pay attention to the warmth of the shoulder joint, so as not to aggravate the disease after cold.
V. Personal insight
Rotator cuff bruising may lead to pain around the shoulder and limited shoulder joint movement, which is not uncommon in clinical practice. For example, we can improve the circulation of Qi and blood in the shoulder joint by using acupressure treatment to accelerate the absorption of inflammatory exudates, and acupuncture treatment to improve the pain of the rotator cuff, which will gradually reduce the patient’s symptoms. We would like to remind all sports fans that they should develop a good awareness of shoulder joint protection during sports, including avoiding impacts and falls. If you still have an accident that leads to injury, it is recommended that you seek medical attention as soon as possible to avoid further aggravation of your condition due to lack of knowledge of the disease, drug abuse or forced exercise.