TUINA THERAPY FOR MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN RELIEF: EXPLORING ITS IMPACT ON KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS, BACK AND SHOULDER PAIN

Abstract

Musculoskeletal pain, such as knee osteoarthritis, back pain, and shoulder pain, is quite common and often hurts a person's quality of life. Conventional treatments can only bring minimal relief, thus making it imperative for individuals to turn to alternative therapies like Tuina therapy. Tuina is a historical Chinese manual therapy acupressure, joint manipulation, and muscle techniques used to relieve pain and increase mobility.Homeopathic and Tibbi Medical Center treated 60 patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis, back pain, and shoulder pain at Islamia University, Bahawalpur. The therapy included joint manipulation techniques along with acupressure tuina. Pain levels and flexibility improvements regarding the patients were measured before and after treatment.Patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis reported 57% less suffering from pain and a 25% improvement in flexibility. Patients with back pain reported a reduction of 64.7% in pain and an improved flexibility of 30%. Patients with shoulder pain showed a decrease of 51.3% in pain and a 20% increase in the range of motion. Overall, around 70% of the patients rated therapy as excellent.The therapy practiced in Tuina proved very helpful in reducing musculoskeletal pain and also improved flexibility or range of motion in cases of knee osteoarthritis, back pain, and shoulder pain. This points to the fact that Tuina therapies can be a complementary form of treatment in chronic musculoskeletal morbidity and should be further studied in larger studies with control groups.

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