🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Periarthritis of the shoulder, known in traditional Chinese medicine as "leaky wind shoulder," "fifty-year-old shoulder," or "frozen shoulder," is a common chronic joint-muscle disorder among middle-aged and elderly people. The condition lasts a long time—usually over half a year—and manifests as dull or sharp shoulder pain radiating to the neck or upper arm, worsening at night and even disrupting sleep, severely affecting daily life in older adults. Dr. Huang Guoming, deputy chief physician at Qingyuan City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Guangdong Province, used warm needle acupuncture to treat 84 cases of periarthritis of the shoulder with good results.
Diagnostic Criteria: 1. Age around 50 years old; 2. Shoulder pain with tenderness at the front, back, coracoid process, acromion, and biceps long head tendon area; 3. Restricted active and passive movement in any direction of the shoulder joint, sometimes leading to stiffness and muscle atrophy; 4. X-ray examination shows no dislocation or fracture, or only osteoporosis or calcification of the supraspinatus tendon.
Treatment Group (42 cases): Warm needle acupuncture was applied. Patients sat upright, exposed their shoulders, and selected acupoints including Ah Shi points, Jianyu, Jianzhen, Jianqian, Jianliao, and Quchi. After routine disinfection, 30-gauge, two-inch needles were inserted. After achieving Qi sensation through lifting, inserting, twisting, and rotating, a two-centimeter-long moxa stick was placed on the needle tip. A round paper shield was cut to cover the skin around the needle shaft to prevent burns. The moxa stick was then lit, allowing heat to transmit through the needle to the acupoint. Once the moxa burned out and cooled down, the needles were removed.
Control Group (42 cases): Electroacupuncture was used. Patients sat upright, exposed their shoulders, and selected the same acupoints. After routine disinfection, 30-gauge, two-inch needles were quickly inserted using balanced tonification and sedation. Then connected to a D8606-II electroacupuncture machine with dense wave stimulation. Current intensity was set to tolerable level. Needles were retained for 30 minutes.
Continuous treatment for 10 sessions constituted one course. Efficacy was evaluated three months later. According to the criteria established by the First National Conference of the Chinese Integrative Medicine Society’s Rheumatic Diseases Professional Committee: Clinical Cure: Complete disappearance of shoulder pain, full recovery of joint function; Marked Improvement: Significant reduction in shoulder pain, nearly normal joint function; Effective: Subjective symptom relief, slight improvement in joint mobility; Ineffective: No change in symptoms or signs, no improvement in joint function. Results: The treatment group achieved a cure rate of 71.4% and a total effective rate of 92.5%; the control group had a cure rate of 42.8% and a total effective rate of 78.6%.
The shoulder joint consists of the humeral head and glenoid cavity of the scapula, being the most mobile and flexible joint in the human body. Periarthritis of the shoulder is common in middle-aged and elderly individuals, usually caused by acute injury (upper limb trauma, surgery, etc.) or chronic strain (exposure to wind and cold, prolonged lack of shoulder movement), leading to sterile inflammation—such as congestion, exudation, edema, and adhesion—in soft tissues surrounding the joint, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, bursae, and joint capsule. When compensatory mechanisms remain intact, there may be no clinical symptoms. However, when the causative factor persists and compensation fails, shoulder pain and functional impairment occur.
Traditional Chinese medicine classifies periarthritis of the shoulder under "Bi Syndrome," specifically as a "Twelve Meridian Sinew Disorder." It is believed that external injuries, overwork, and declining qi and blood after middle age allow wind, cold, and damp pathogens to invade the shoulder, obstructing the meridians and causing qi stagnation and blood stasis. "Unobstructed flow means no pain; blocked flow means pain." Thus, patients suffer repeated shoulder pain and functional limitations. Warm needle acupuncture combines point selection based on meridian sinew lesions. After achieving Qi sensation via lifting, inserting, twisting, and rotating, moxibustion is added. The heat from moxibustion warms and unblocks meridians, promotes blood and qi circulation, ultimately expelling wind, cold, and dampness from the shoulder and curing the disease.
Modern research on traditional Chinese medicine meridian theory confirms that infrared radiation emitted during moxibustion penetrates deep tissues, enhancing local tissue metabolism, reducing excitability of surrounding nerves, and aiding functional recovery. Additionally, moxibustion acts on nerve vessels near acupoints through thermal effect, light radiation, and medicinal properties of moxa, adjusting plasma osmotic pressure, improving local blood circulation, enhancing immune function, thus promoting inflammation resolution and functional restoration.