Shoulder Impingement

While external treatments (acupuncture, moxibustion, and pharmacopuncture) have the advantage of acting directly on local lesions, systemic imbalances in Qi and blood, as well as organ function, are difficult to resolve solely through external treatment. Particularly in chronic shoulder impingement syndrome, degenerative changes in the rotator cuff tendons often overlap with systemic inflammatory responses; therefore, complex herbal prescriptions possessing anti-inflammatory, blood circulation-promoting, and tissue-regenerating effects are effective in shortening treatment duration and suppressing recurrence. In actual clinical practice, studies have shown that combining internal and external treatments results in a greater reduction in pain VAS scores compared to external treatment alone. Since shoulder tendons are governed by specific organs of the body, a lack of blood necessary for their function or stagnation of Qi leads to a decline in the tendons' own elasticity and regenerative capacity. If the function governing bones is weak, bone and cartilage degeneration occurs more rapidly, and the risk of forming excess bone on the shoulder blade increases. At Dongjedang, we formulate herbal medicines tailored to your constitution based on these two functions, combining herbs that remove clotted blood and waste products with those that replenish Qi and blood in stages. Our goal is to minimize the treatment period through the synergy of internal and external healing.