At a glance
Aging-related ‘frozen shoulder’ pain warmed, cleared and resolved over a focused treatment course.
Presentation
A 54-year-old patient came to the clinic with considerable pain in her right shoulder — both at the shoulder joint itself and through the muscles of the upper arm. This is the kind of aging-related shoulder pain often nicknamed 'fifty shoulder' (a counterpart to what's commonly called frozen shoulder), where the joint stiffens and aches and the arm becomes hard to use.
Diagnosis
The pattern combined Kidney and Spleen deficiency with significant phlegm-damp-cold and a degree of blood stasis. The pain tracked along the Large Intestine, Triple Warmer, and Small Intestine channels — and the spaces between them — which run across the shoulder and down the arm. Treating it meant warming and clearing the cold-damp obstruction while supporting the underlying deficiency.
Treatment
Treatment worked at two levels — balancing the channels from a distance and treating the shoulder directly — plus herbal support:
- Dr. Tan's balance method: KD-3 (Taixi) toward UB-60 (Kunlun), and KD-5 (Shuiquan) — distal points on the opposite end of the body used to release the shoulder by balancing its channels
- local shoulder points — LI-15 (Jianyu), TW-14 (Jianliao), the area between them, LI-14 (Binao), TW-13 (Naohui), SI-10 (Naoshu) — a careful map of points around the joint to release the local pain directly
A herbal formula was prescribed to tonify the deficiency, expel the phlegm-damp-cold, and break up the blood stasis.
Result
The pain eased after each treatment, and once the full course was complete it did not come back. With the joint warmed, cleared, and supported, she regained comfortable use of her shoulder and arm.
This reflects an individual patient experience, not clinical trial data.
Results vary from person to person depending on the condition, its severity, and how an individual responds to treatment. TCM and acupuncture are not a substitute for care from your physician or another regulated health professional. If you’re dealing with a serious or urgent symptom, please see a doctor first.