Community

An alternate road toward pain relief

By MIKE CAMUNAS, Times Correspondent
Published November 7, 2007

Playing golf can be painful, not just on your ego, but physically.

In some cases, golfers turn to alternative methods of relief such as that offered by Dr. Steve Davis, an acupuncture physician who owns Davis Pain and Stress Relief Center in Land O'Lakes. Davis offers massages, needle treatments and stretches to help ease the pain.

Here's how it works:

1. First, Davis gives the patient a massage, finding the area that needs release.

"Usually the body tells me where the majority of the pain may lie," Davis said. "It's a simple way of doing it - looking for the trigger points."

These points are where Davis will insert the acupuncture needles, above. Once he does that, Davis said, the needle hooks onto the muscles, which is about an inch into the skin.

"There is really no pain at all, unless the person is hypersensitive," Davis said, adding that he usually can cure what ails most patients in three to five sessions.

2. After inserting nearly a dozen needles into patient Tom Weld, 75, last Tuesday, Davis attached a small conduit to a few of them to run electricity to the muscles.

Davis said Weld's sacroiliac, the joint between the sacrum at the base of the spine and hip bone, was causing him pain.

So Davis stimulated the muscles connected to the needles in Weld's lower back.

The electricity caused Weld's muscles to twitch, but Weld said he felt no pain. "It feels good actually," he said.

Then Davis started moxibustion, which is a Chinese heat therapy technique involving moxa or mugwort herb.

It has a sharp smell, but Davis said it helps with colds and revitalizes the immune system.

Davis lit a small stick of moxa, which looks like hollowed out firecracker, and slid it down theneedle.

As the stick burned down, the needle got warmer and transferred the heat to the muscle.

Weld wasn't burned, and he said the warm needle loosened up his muscles. All the while, Davis kept a light electrical charge going to the other needles.

3. Dressed and feeling fresh, the patient, above, finally does exercises and stretches specifically designed for certain golf movements and techniques.

Davis said he gives homework for each individual patient to do on his own. Davis has certain exercises for certain patients and where their body may need the most work physically.

In Weld's case, he has pain in his lower back and in his right hip the SI joint. In the past, Weld, a Land O'Lakes native, also had surgery on his lower back.

During the session last Tuesday, Davis used an exercise with a golf club to teach Weld to turn his shoulders away from his hips, while sitting up straight and keeping the lower body and head stationary.

Golf requires a lot of hip movement, so Davis taught Weld how to turn his shoulders and hips separately, which can help him avoid injury and improve his overall physical fitness.

This stretch was painful, and Weld had difficulty doing it at first. But Davis said all exercises must be done consistently and before the golfer hits the links to be helpful.

In Weld's case, he hopes to return to playing once a week at the Groves, where he typically shoots in the mid-80s.

Submit info, feedback to communitysports@tampabay.com or (352) 544-9480.

[Last modified November 7, 2007, 13:27:34]