Working with professional athletes is fun yet challenging at the same time. The fun part is that athletes always have something to work on, the challenging part is finding a way to improve that something to work on while they are in season. Most athletes have an off season; professional wrestlers do not. In my clinical practice I have found that using electro-acupuncture (EA), cupping, medical massage, and tinctures helps not only to take down the chronic pain level a few numbers, but also keeps the pain at a manageable level when being treat on a weekly basis while the athlete is in season.

A professional wrestler (Mr. BMW) presents with lower back pain that is mostly dull, achy, and constantly nagging him. This low back pain (LBP) has been going on for four to five years on and off and exacerbated since breaking his coccyx in 2019. MYMOP reports that back pain and stiffness are a three out of six. Exercise and general well-being is reported as a two out of six. Mr. BMW states, “I have a very high pain tolerance.” Upon palpation, findings show the patient’s erector spinae are taut, bulging, and filled with muscle knots. His left hip is rotated posterior and right hip is tilted forward. The piriformis, superior gemellus, and obturator internus are locked up from the trauma to coccyx causing LBP. Moura, et al found that “cupping therapy is a promising method for the treatment of chronic back pain in adults.”¹

In the last four-to-five years, Mr. BMW’s low back pain has been treated unsuccessfully with medical massage and chiropractic. He is now seeking cupping and acupuncture. In a review of options for pain treatments, Kelly and Willis found, “For certain patients, especially those who are unresponsive or intolerant to standard therapies, acupuncture is a reasonable treatment option.”²

When treating chronic pain with athletes, medical massage is not enough! Many research studies on PubMed have shown promising results when medical massage is used as the main treatment including “less pain, depression, anxiety, and improved sleep, trunk and pain flexion performance after experiencing two 30-minute sessions for 5 weeks.”³ Due to the short duration that medical massage provides pain relief, I have moved to incorporate other healing modalities such as EA.

In my clinical experience, it has been shown that using EA followed by five to seven minutes of cupping and 30 to 45 minutes of medical massage on a localized area has the best results regarding chronic pain, inflammation, heat release, and muscle tension. Vickers and other “conclude that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain, with treatment effects persisting over time.”⁴

Electro-Acupuncture was the acupuncture method of choice. The red lead is a positive charge, which deposits electrolytes on the negative charge. The black lead is a negative charge, which cleans the electrode of electrolytes off the positive electrode.⁵ I choose AE because of the effects it has on the brain and spinal system. These effects include the spinal cord is activated by the pain points, while the midbrain, hypothalamus, and pituitary are indirectly activated when placed distally from the pain points.⁵ Mixed mode was selected with high pulse rate to interrupt the muscle memory of the pain, stiffness, and tightness of the lower back and glutes.

Mixed mode, 260 pulse width, 150 pulse rate (Hz) for 15 minutes was applied to the sacrum for first two visits at UB 26 (red) and UB 30 (black), followed by the glutes at UB 53 (red) and UB 54 (black) for visits three and four, then the lower back at UB 22 (red) and UB 25 (black) for visits five and six. The treatment plan was to unlock the muscle through the sacrum, glutes and then the lower back itself. If the muscles from the sacrum and glutes released, then it will lessen the tension on the lower back and the lower back will have a chance to unlock and lengthen. This was shown to be true with the MYMOP2 follow-up.

The patient travels around the US to wrestle in different sporting arenas on a weekly basis. In the past six weeks during this case study, he wrestled nine matches. On March 29, 2021, Mr. BMW did a 60-minute DDP Yoga session and received a chiropractic adjustment on his hips. The adjustment held, which patient was happy about. After six weeks of treatment, MYMOP2 follow-up showed scores of one in LBP and stiffness, and two in exercise. Tissue presents itself as softer and warm to touch, the knots are gone, and the hips are even while holding the chiropractic adjustment. Mr. BMW reported, “I noticed a huge decrease in overall stiffness. I noticed this not only in the ring, but also just performing workouts at the gym…The treatment would greatly reduce the discomfort and I could feel progress in it through the sessions even of just me walking around.”

References

1. Moura, Caroline de Castro, et al. Cupping therapy and chronic back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Rev Lat Am Enfermagem. 2018 Nov 14;26:e3094.
2. Kelly, Robert B. and Joel Willis. Acupuncture for Pain. Am Fam Physician. 2019 Jul 15;100(2):89-96.
3. Hernandez-Reif M, et al. Lower back pain is reduced and range of motion increased after massage therapy.” Int J Neurosci. 2001;106(3-4):131-45.
4. Vickers AJ, et al. Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. J Pain. 2018 May;19(5):455-474.
5. Tyme. Student Manual on the Fundamentals of Traditional Oriental Medicine. 4^th ed. Living Earth Enterprises. 2001.