Can acupuncture and massage be done together?

I have been doing Chinese medicine physiotherapy for almost ten years. To be honest, in most cases acupuncture and massage can not only be done together, but if they are paired properly, the effect is much better than doing either one alone.

Of course, not everyone agrees with this combination. I have an old friend who runs an acupuncture clinic. He insists on not having massages for 24 hours before and after acupuncture. He says that massage will disrupt the flow of qi and blood, affect the feeling of qi gained by acupuncture, and may rub against the tiny wounds left by acupuncture, inducing infection. This concern is actually not groundless, but as long as it is done properly, it will basically not lead to pitfalls.

Last month, I picked up a little girl who works in graphic design. She suffered from cervical spondylosis and it hurt even when she looked up at the screen. I used acupuncture on the Jiaji and Fengchi acupuncture points on her neck for two days in a row. The soreness and swelling subsided a little, but her neck was still as stiff as a welded iron frame. She had to move her upper body with her when she turned around. Later, I adjusted the plan. First, I performed deep neck and shoulder release for 20 minutes. I slowly kneaded her hard trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles. At the same time, I softened the bulging Fugui bao on her upper back. Then I inserted the needle at the original acupoint. I also pressed her while retaining the needle. Her forearms were so tight that she screamed with pain when pressed. After the treatment, she could turn her neck left and right. She said, "It felt like the big stone pressing on her shoulders was lifted directly."

In fact, the underlying logic of the two is the same. They both revolve around dredging the meridians and regulating Qi and blood. Massage is like kneading the "knots" blocked on the meridians in advance. It is equivalent to clearing out the clogged debris from the blocked pipes. At this time, the needle is inserted. The stimulation of the acupuncture points is more easily transmitted to the place, the sense of Qi is stronger, and it can be acted on the uncomfortable areas faster.

Of course, there are situations where this cannot be applied. For example, if your skin is particularly sensitive and the redness and swelling of the needle eye disappear slowly after acupuncture, then don’t massage the needle site on the day of acupuncture. If you avoid the needle eye, there will be no problem.； If you are doing facial beauty injections or microneedling, don’t do facial massage right away, otherwise over-stimulation will cause redness and sensitivity, which will be more harmful than gain.

To put it bluntly, there are not so many black and white taboos. It all depends on the actual situation of the customer and the best one is the one that suits them.