acupuncture for
pain management & orthopedics
Set up a pain management & orthopedic acupuncture appointment with Frank Caruso.
Acupuncture is proving to be the safest, most effective, and affordable therapy available for pain management and treating chronic and acute pain. Osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, unremitting injuries, or undiagnosable pain syndromes – these conditions are typically treated with prednisone, opiates and antidepressants, often creating more problems than they are solving. You may not have to use those drugs any more…
Orthopedics
Chronic pain is not merely the result of arthritic bones, a misaligned spine or herniated discs, or “inflammation”. Sometimes all of these components are involved, along with overstrained tendons, tight or weak muscles, sprained ligaments, and adhesions in the connective tissue. What these painful conditions seem to have in common are a decreased blood supply.
With acupuncture and Chinese medicine, patients can reduce or eliminate pain medications, and the need to return to Pain Management for more cortisone shots.
Chronic pain patients may be taking up to a half-a-dozen different medications for pain alone, including narcotics (tramadol, oxycodone, zohydro), anticonvulsants (Gabapentin), antipsychotics (aripiprazole), and a wide variety of antidepressants. Furthermore, medications such as statins often cause joint and tendon pain. None of these drugs can get to the heart of the real problem. A trained practitioner of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine knows how to get to the root cause of your pain condition.
Migraine Headaches
Second to arthritis, migraines and headaches is probably the most common reason patients seek medical care. Depending on the underlying cause and condition, acupuncture and Chinese medicine is the optimal choice over drugs and botox.
If you are suffering from chronic or acute migraines, headaches, which may or may not be combined with neck pain, and you have already tried standard medical care, try using acupuncture. It is a highly effective, side effect free, and low cost therapy.
Pain Management for Athletes
Every day athletes include acupuncture to promote healing and enhance training levels.
Whether you are a professional athlete, a serious runner or golfer, or an over ambitious weekend-warrior, Frank has experience working with cases quite like your own. He has provided acupuncture therapy for hundreds of athletes including professional organizations like the Browns, the Cavaliers, and the Indians.
Professional Trainers, local physicians and orthopedic specialists often recommend Frank’s services.
- Recovery from an injury is slow or absent
- Post-surgical pain is persistent
When conventional treatments fail
- Pain medications and cortisone shots are not acceptable
- Over training has left you fatigued and prone to injury
- You want to enhance training levels
Neuropathy
It seems all neuropathy patients I’ve encountered have been told there is no cure. As a result, it seems the only solution is to manage symptoms with a life-long supply of various medications. People turn to acupuncture because they’ve either read about it or a friend recounts the benefits. Neurologists rarely recommend acupuncture for patients with neuropathy. Although, there are exceptions.
Diabetes is likely the most common cause of neuropathy. The second is probably idiopathic, which means, “We don’t know.” In addition, lumbar disk herniation, auto immune disease, kidney disease, shingles pain, chemotherapy, and environmental toxins may also cause this insidious disorder. Symptoms include tingling, numbness, burning pain, or a sensation like cotton balls inside one’s shoes. Often times the condition starts at the toes or tops of the feet and may progress further up the leg. Eventually, the condition continues working its way to the calf muscles. Common neuropathy effects can be felt in the hands and fingers due to carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, or any of the previously mentioned conditions.
Chinese medicine may use words such as yin and blood deficiency as well as terms like blood stagnation to describe the underlying factors in a neuropathy presentation. Thus, our treatment strategies are applied accordingly.
I began my acupuncture and Chinese medicine practice in 2005. Since then, I have successfully helped dozens of people deal with this difficult condition. Regardless of the diagnosis one receives from a doctor, or explanation of cause such as, “nerve damage,” or inconclusive test results from an EMG, it is difficult to determine ahead of time who will improve and who will not. In some cases, no improvements are ever experienced, while for others, noticeable improvements may happen after just a few treatments. For some, the pain goes away before the numbness. On the other hand, for others the numb feeling lessens and may eventually stop all together. At Caruso Acupuncture we also discuss dietary factors and may implement specific herbal prescriptions. This is an effort to improve upon the condition and its underlying causes.
If you find treatments helpful for pain management, and depending on your unique results, then you may continue to use acupuncture and Chinese medicine bi-weekly, monthly, or as needed. However, if your neuropathy condition goes away you now have a safe, side-effect-free therapy you can use for it or any other health concern you have.
When delivered by a trained acupuncture professional, one Licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio and the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), you can be sure you are utilizing one of the best complimentary therapies available. Learn more about Your Acupuncturist.