Acute lumbar sprain refers to the acute injury of lumbar muscles, fascia, ligaments and intervertebral facet joints, which is what we often say, that is, lumbar flash or qi. It is a disease that acupuncturists encounter almost every day. Acupuncture has obvious advantages in treating this disease, and every doctor has his own unique experience.

People who know something about acupuncture will find that there are many acupoints to choose from to treat acute lumbar sprain. So how do we choose acupuncture points in clinic? Are there any definite principles? The answer is yes. Which acupoint to choose is not based on the acupuncturist's personal preference, but on our idea of acupoint selection.

The principle of acupoint selection in acupuncture treatment of acute lumbar sprain is mainly to look at meridian differentiation, that is, to look at which meridian or meridians the patient's pain is located on, and then choose the corresponding acupoint for treatment. There is also a commonly used principle of acupoint selection, that is, empirical acupoint selection, such as acupoint selection for low back pain.

Let's imagine that there is a patient with acute lumbar sprain. How would you treat him? Of course, the most important thing is to see where the patient's pain lies. The patient's pain may be in the middle of the waist (du meridian), beside the spinous process (Jiaji point), or at the second and fourth fingers of the midline (the first and second lateral lines of the bladder meridian), or further away from the midline.

The pain is in the Du meridian, and we can take it from the middle of the human body or the back stream. If the Du meridian and spinous process are painful, the effect of Houxi will be better. According to the holographic theory, the 1 point of low back pain between houxi and carpal bone can also be selected.

The pain is beside the spinous process. We can take the Shousanli point or the lumbago point between the fourth and fifth metacarpals. The pain lies in the first lateral line of the bladder meridian, and the low back pain between the third and fourth metacarpals is selected at three points. The pain lies in the second lateral line of the bladder meridian, and four points of the second and third metacarpal lumbago are selected. Further away from the midline, take the tender point of Taichong point or the low back pain between the first and second metacarpals at 5 points.

For patients with acute lumbar sprain, we are used to using Guling and Dabai, or Renzhong, Houxi or Dongshi lumbago points. Some were cured once, and some were ineffective after repeated treatments, but it has never been clear why they are ineffective. Now it is finally clear that they are treating lumbar sprains in different positions. Guling and Dabai aim at the pain far away from the midline, and lumbago points aim at the pain beside spinous process and the second lateral line of bladder meridian respectively.