ACCHS Orthopedics and Pain Management Series – Electroacupuncture for Orthopedic Conditions 
Dr. Anthony Von der Muhll, L.Ac., DAOM, DNBAO, FAIPM
Introduction to Acupuncture Physical Medicine
The Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Science
Category 1 CA CEU’s: 8 CEUs (pending)
Instructor: Dr. Anthony Von der Muhll, L.Ac., DAOM, DNBAO, FAIPM
Dr. Anthony Von der Muhll specializes in sports, orthopedic and neuro-musculoskeletal injuries and pain conditions. He became Licensed as an Acupuncturist in 2003, and was the first graduate of the Five Branches University’s’ Integrative Sports Medicine program. He has served as a Clinical Instructor and Associate Professor at the Five Branches since 2005, and as an Instructor in the Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Program of the Academy of Chinese Culture and Health Sciences beginning in 2017. He is also a Diplomate of the National Board of Acupuncture Orthopedics, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pain Management, and certified as a Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine. He is also one of the few traditionally-trained acupuncturists who has also become certified as a Myofascial Trigger Point Therapist (dry needling) through Myopain Seminars. He has 20 years of clinical experience as a sports massage therapist, physical therapy aide, athletic training assistant, and licensed acupuncturist in multi-disciplinary clinics, including SpineMed Associates and the PRIME Pain Medicine Institute. He has also served as an Expert Witness for the California Acupuncture Board (CAB) and in civil malpractice litigation.
December 13, 2021-December 13, 2021 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
2 Category 1 CAB units available
Type: Prerecorded Lecture – Distance Education CEU to be granted
Description:
Why Electroacupuncture? EA has unique therapeutic effects and differences from manual acupuncture:
- Provokes strong pain control responses through release of the brain’s own opioid neurotransmitters (such as endorphins, dynorphins, enkephalins), as well as up-regulation of serotonin, a critical mood stabilizing biomolecule.
- Interrupts pain/spasm cycles, and can facilitate the gains in joint range-of-motion crucial to physical rehabilitation.
- Stimulates proprioceptive nerve fibers, resulting in muscle re-balancing and re-education of hypo-functioning or injured muscles.
- Normalizes local blood flow and lymphatic drainage.
- Speeds up cell metabolism, thus stimulating tissue repair and regeneration.
- Electroacupuncture is safe for long-term use and without known side-effects. Properly-applied, electroacupuncture is no more uncomfortable, and is better tolerated by some patients, than manual stimulation of needles to bring about pain relief.
Electroacupuncture safety:
- Cautions and contraindications
- Patient education and informed consent
- Safety protocols and management of adverse events
Electroacupuncture parameters and settings:
- Amplitude: milli- and micro-
- Frequency
- Mode
- Duration
- Polarity and lead placement
Electroacupuncture protocols for common orthopedic and neurologic conditions of the spine and extremities:
- Neck and back pain, including radiculitis and stenosis
- Shoulder girdle injuries, including rotator cuff tendinitis and bursitis
- Elbow, forearm, wrist and hand pain, including carpal tunnel syndrome
- Hip and buttock pain, including sciatica • Knee and thigh pain, including patellar tendinitis
- Calf, ankle and foot pain, including plantar fasciitis
- Complex regional pain (reflex sympathetic dystrophy, causalgia) and phantom limb pain syndromes
- AOM patterns: qi and blood stagnation; bi syndromes; yin xu with heat or fire; dampness and fluid accumulation; phlegm, wind-phlegm, turbid phlegm, and wei and zhong feng syndromes; and systemic cold and deficiency of yang, jing, qi or blood.
Integrating electroacupuncture into acupuncture clinic flow:
- Combining electroacupuncture with other therapies
- Documentation for malpractice defense and to support insurance billing
Course Objectives:
Electroacupuncture for Orthopedic Conditions