Acupuncture Sports Medicine: Treatment of the Shoulder and Upper Extremities - Online

Course description

This live-stream webinar series is for the serious practitioner of sports acupuncture and orthopedics and those who treat injury and pain. In these courses, Whitfield Reaves describes techniques and specific treatment protocols for common pain syndromes. Diagnosis and assessment is presented, including anatomical understanding of the numerous types of tissues involved, such as trigger points, motor points, tendons, and ligaments. And clinically effective treatment techniques follow in this clear and concise live-stream format.

This course discusses "anatomically significant points”, and how each of the different anatomical structures respond to needle insertion, electrical stimulation, and other techniques like moxa and cupping. The Four Steps, developed by the presenter, is used as a guide to systematic treatment. Each step has a specific role in the protocol, and as a whole, these Four Steps offer structure to the treatment of pain and injury. Understanding the Four Steps is a significant benefit for the practitioner, as it often assures that the proper treatment is not overlooked.

An on-site seminar in June 2021 with Whitfield Reaves and experienced assistants brings the essential practical aspect to this material. All techniques presented online will be practiced live under supervision. For each online-seminar and body region, a separate day is reserved. Find out more and register here.

Goals and Objectives

Because the shoulder is so complex with pain referral patterns, this module begins with a discussion on trigger points and myofascial pain syndromes, the work of Janet Travell, MD. Included is the supraspinatous, the infraspinatous, and the subscapularis, three muscles of the rotator cuff. Other causes of shoulder pain will include the acromial-clavicular joint, the bicipital tendon, and the sub-acromial bursae. There will be some discussion on the neck, including the levator scapulae and the posterior cervical muscles, however this will not be complete assessment of the neck in this course. Postural considerations, and how to treat them, will include the scapular retractors (the rhomboids) and the protractors (the pectoralis muscles). And finally, this live-stream course concludes with some simple but important upper extremity conditions including lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) and carpal tunnel syndrome.