ASMWS #5 Anterior Shoulder Pain: The Biceps Muscle

Course overview

The long head of the biceps, with its predictable stagnation in the bicepital groove, presents with pain in the anterior and anterior-lateral aspect of the shoulder. Pain may radiate down the biceps muscle of the forearm. For the acupuncture practitioner, this is an important injury with which to be acquainted. While not as common as rotator cuff injuries, bicepital lesions are overlooked by the acupuncturist. Diagnosis and assessment are not always definitive, and acupuncture treatment can be complicated. Furthermore, it does not help that there are no acupuncture points located at the site of the injury. Commonly diagnosed in the category of accident/trauma, biceps tendonitis is usually a repetitive stress disorder due to the accumulation of micro-trauma. However, it may occasionally occur as an acute strain. The injury is at the level of the muscles and tendons, with qi and blood stagnation in the channels and collaterals. Bicepital tendonitis usually presents as Lung meridian pathology and it generally responds to local needling or, in some cases, local cupping. Specific distal points complete the treatment and all of these acupuncture sports medicine protocols are thoroughly described in this webinar by Whitfield Reaves.