Timothy Iliff Jr, DAOM, LAc.

Introduction
Pain is possibly the condition most commonly treated by acupuncture (Fan, A. Y., et al., 2017, Hao, J. J., & Mittelman, M., 2014). Acupuncture has also been shown to be an effective intervention for multiple types of pain (Vickers, A. J., et al., 2018). There are myriad reasons for patients to have pain, but the rationale for pain within Chinese medicine, no matter the type, always remains the same. Bu tong ze teng, bu teng ze tong. Where there is pain there is not free flow (of blood, energy, and fluids), where there is free flow (of blood, energy, and fluids) there is not pain. This means that for pain to be relieved and healing facilitated, circulation must be at the least improved and ideally restored to an optimal state.