As my clinic is also an osteopathy clinic, I probably see more lower back issues than the average acupuncturist. Over the course of my career I’ve treated around 300-350 patients with disc issues, and I bring that experience to every new patient who comes through the door.
The aim of these blog posts is to explain ailments and diseases from a Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM) perspective. CCM uses metaphorical “climates” to describe states within the body — wind, fire, damp, dryness and cold — alongside the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Together, these describe everything within the human body, and everything the body does.
How disc bulges develop
Spinal disc bulges usually occur very slowly, over many years — sometimes as much as 10 to 15 years. This is often described clinically as disc dehydration, but I find it more useful to describe the degenerative changes in the disc tissue as a kind of “softness,” for reasons that will become clear below.
There comes a point where this softness in the disc tissue becomes sufficient to compress a spinal nerve. That’s the moment sciatic pain begins — and if the softness has progressed far enough, something as gentle as a sneeze or a cough can be enough to trigger the nerve impingement.
What’s happening from a CCM perspective
These diagnostics can seem unusual at first, but stay with me.
Start with the structure of a disc — think of it a bit like a doughnut. The nucleus pulposus is the soft centre of the disc. In CCM, softness is associated with the element Earth and the climate of dampness — Earth, earth energy is linked to the spleen and pancreas in the body. If the soft centre of the disc is involved, a bulge can progress toward a full rupture, which is a serious presentation, the Qi of the spleen needs to be rebuilt
The annulus fibrosus is the outer tissue of the disc — cartilaginous, and much harder than the interior. Hardness, such as bone and bone-like tissue in the body, is associated with the Metal element which has a contractive nature, making it very strong, the most important Qi of Metal is the kidney (referring here to the kidney’s Qi function in CCM, not the physical organ). In pulse diagnosis, we consistently find softness in the kidney Qi in these cases — usually the result of a long-term weakness built up over many years.
There’s a second diagnostic marker alongside kidney Qi softness: stagnation in the flow of Qi at the level of the bulge, in a vessel called the Du Mai. The Du Mai runs down the midline of the body and is an important vessel that can be felt in pulse diagnosis at the heart pulse. When we find stagnation in the Du Mai alongside softness in the kidney pulse, that combination points to a disc bulge.
(For more on how these vessels fit into the wider system, see The Meridian System of the Body.)
How acupuncture is used to rebalance this
Acupuncture is used first to get the Du Mai moving again, introducing fresh energy along the vessel. Many patients begin to notice a difference once this movement is restored.
The next focus is the softness in the kidney Qi. By using points that nourish and strengthen kidney Qi, we aim to build greater abundance there — the idea being that the body then has more resources available to support the surrounding tissue.
Disc tissue itself has no direct blood supply — it receives nourishment through diffusion. Because of this, once a patient is through the acute phase, treatment is typically only needed around once a month.
In my own clinical experience across hundreds of disc cases, this approach has supported meaningful improvement for many patients — though, as with any treatment, individual results vary, and acupuncture works alongside, not instead of, appropriate medical assessment for disc issues.
Struggling with back pain or a suspected disc issue? As both an acupuncture and osteopathy clinic, we’re well placed to assess and treat spinal disc problems from multiple angles. Get in touch or call 01202 554098 (mobile 07855577484) to book a consultation, or learn more about our acupuncture service.