The relationship between acupuncture and massage profession

Acupuncture and "massage" in public perception (corresponding to the massage major in professional education) are both core branches of external treatment of traditional Chinese medicine. They have the same origin but are independent professional directions. They are highly complementary in clinical application. There is no affiliation and no distinction between high and low abilities.

To be honest, when I first entered the Acupuncture and Tui Tui School of a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, I really thought they were one major split in half. The public courses and basic courses in the freshman year were all taught together. The teachers of basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine, diagnosis, and meridians and acupoints were all from the same group. The practical training courses were more interesting. In the morning, the students in the acupuncture class taught us to insert filiform needles into a one-centimetre-thick paper bag to find the "needle feel."

It was only in the second semester of my freshman year that I chose professional courses in different directions, and the difference gradually became apparent. Acupuncture classes gradually added acupuncture and moxibustion therapy to the curriculum. In addition to ordinary filiform acupuncture, they also had to practice fire acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, suture embedding, and small acupuncture techniques. Later, they even had to learn nerve localization under ultrasound guidance. Now many acupuncture departments in tertiary hospitals are already doing acupuncture intervention research on Parkinson's disease and treatment-resistant depression, and their intersection with neurology and psychiatry is getting deeper and deeper. The courses in our massage class are more focused on anatomy and movement. Systematic anatomy takes 80 hours more than the acupuncture class. Not only must you be able to recite the starting and ending points of each muscle, but you must also be able to feel strained cords and misplaced small joints through the skin, and practice pulling techniques. It is common for people to stand on the massage bed while shaking, and their arms are so sore that they cannot lift them up. Now after the professional subdivision, there are also special pediatric massage, postpartum rehabilitation, and scoliosis correction directions. It is not at all like "just rub it and you can get a job" as outsiders think.

Last month I encountered a typical case. A 28-year-old young man’s back hurt while moving groceries. He was in so much pain that he couldn’t stand up. Two colleagues carried him to the hospital. Teacher Li from the acupuncture department first pricked the Renzhong acupoint and Houxi acupoint on both sides. During the acupuncture, he asked him to slowly try to turn his waist. In less than five minutes, he could stand and walk on his own. However, the erector spinae muscle on his right side was still as hard as frozen pork when touched, and he grinned when he pressed it. He came to me for massage. For the first time, I used the rolling method and massage to relax the superficial muscles, and then did an oblique pull method to reset. I said on the spot that most of the tightness was gone. I did it three times in a row and went back to work normally. Later, we talked and said that if acupuncture alone is used, it may take a week for the blood clots deep in the muscles to gradually disappear. If massage is used alone, the pain will be so severe that the patient cannot bear the pain for the first time, and the techniques are not adequate at all. If the two are used in conjunction, the patient will suffer less and heal faster.

There are actually different voices in the industry regarding the relationship between the two majors. Many veteran TCM doctors who have roots in the grassroots believe that "acupuncture and acupuncture do not separate families." I went to a county hospital free clinic and met a 62-year-old doctor who has opened a clinic for more than 20 years. After giving the patient acupuncture, he rubs the patient's shoulder and neck for ten minutes without having to go to two departments. This is especially convenient for grassroots patients who live far away and have difficulty making a trip. His clinic has a lot of repeat customers. However, in tertiary hospitals and professional colleges, more people feel that the current subdivision directions of the two professions are far apart. A person's energy is limited, and only by specializing in one field can he go deep and thorough. Our hospital's acupuncture department now has specialized outpatient clinics for allergic rhinitis and Parkinson's disease, and the massage department has opened specialized outpatient clinics for adolescent scoliosis and postpartum pelvic repair. If doctors are required to be proficient in acupuncture's neuromodulation technology and skilled in spine correction and sports rehabilitation programs, it will be easy to "do everything but not everything".

To put it bluntly, these two are like the two masters of external treatment in traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is "opening the way with the needle tip", precisely prying open the blocked Qi and blood channels, while massage is "flowing smoothly with the palm of the hand", rubbing and pushing away the stasis in the entire meridians. There is no one who is more powerful, only the difference between suitable and unsuitable. I have been doing massage for nearly ten years. Now when I encounter patients who are in acute stage of pain and cannot be touched, I will first recommend that they go to the acupuncture department to get two injections for pain relief and then perform manipulation. My colleagues in the acupuncture department will also refer to me when they encounter patients with limited mobility and muscle adhesions after acupuncture.

A few days ago, a kid who had finished the college entrance examination came to me and asked me whether he should choose acupuncture or massage as a volunteer, and whether he could learn both. I told him that as long as you can obtain the corresponding medical qualification certificate and have good technical skills, you can do whatever is convenient for the patients - we are learning this, and being able to solve the problem is the most important thing.