One of the more prevalent causes of debilitating acute and chronic pain is compression and rupture injuries to the intervertebral disks of the low back. 70-85% of all people have back pain at some time in their lives, and accounts for well over 50 billion dollars a year in lost productivity in the U.S. Microcurrent electro-acupuncture offers valuable help for this condition. Here are some useful treatment tips:

1) Acupuncture points to open dorsal zone of the body- The French school of acupuncture teaches that use of master points to energetically open regions of the body can improve responses to local treatment. Acu-points UB 10 and UB 40, treated bilaterally, tends to improve energy circulation throughout the entire back. In most cases, place + microcurrent probe on UB 10 and – probe on UB 40, same side, and in this way treat bilaterally. Du/Yangchaio extraordinary Master points SI 3 (+) and UB 62 (-) can be added to support this effect.

2) Local-distal point combinations- Place + probe on local painful points on the low back, and the – probe on distal points to create an energetic circuit to balance the energies of the injured area. Choose from distal points K3, Ling Ku combination of hand (Ling Ku, Da Bai and Zong Bai), UB 56, 58, 59, or 60, or auricular points (such as sciatica, low back region, sympathetic, and other local points, and master pain points such as thalamus, shenmen and zero.

3) Micro-interferential treatment- It is advisable to first balance body energies with acu-point stimulation as suggested above, followed by four-pad treatment of the affected low back area with microcurrent flooding. For acute pain with very limited pain-free movement, the milliamp-microamp combo IF is especially valuable. Once the patient can move or gently exercise without pain aggravation, micro-interferential with simultaneous movement and stretching will accelerate responses.

4) Microcurrents with motion- For healing of disk injuries to occur, it is essential that the patient perform daily exercise with the aim of strengthening abdominal muscles and relaxing and stretching low back and leg muscles. When this is done with simultaneous microcurrent IF, the beneficial results are accelerated. I recommend the small book by Robin Mackenzie Heal Your Own Back, which details exercises for back pain patients in all stages of recovery, including acute pain. Using Mackenzie’s exercises with microcurrent is a powerful way to promote rapid healing.

5) Combining needle and Microlight stimulation- For patients with resistant back pain, I have had best results combining these modalities. I generally place needles in some of the distal points listed above, with possible addition of auricular master points for whole-body tune up and specific affected back regions. I use simultaneous microcurrent interferential on the affected local pain areas, with motion as is indicated. Another very useful method pioneered by Alejandro Katz, M.D., O.M.D., is placing microcurrent pad electrodes over an array of obliquely-inserted acupuncture needles in the local painful area. This method can also be combined with distal and auricular point needle or probe stimulation.