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Introduction: Neck-shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal problem that is often chronic or recurrent. The mechanism of the neck-shoulder pain musculoskeletal disorder is complicated, multifactorial, and sometimes unclear. Cases: Seven patients presented at an outpatient pain clinic, each with a chief complaint of chronic neckshoulder pain that these patients had had for various time periods. Intervention: The patients were treated with 45-minute sessions of Chinese Balance Acupuncture per the protocol of Richard Teh-Fu Tan, OMD, LAc. Main Outcome Measures: Pain intensity, pain duration, and quality of life (QoL) were measured during the treatment period, and the QoL was measured during the 3-month follow-up after three acupuncture sessions. Results: After the third session (1.5 weeks after the beginning of treatment), the patients reported complete dissipation of pain or significant reductions in pain intensity. There was also substantial improvement in QoL during the treatment period and during the 3-month follow-up. Conclusions: To date, this is the first case report on the effectiveness of Dr. Tan's Chinese Balance Acupuncture for treatment of chronic neck-shoulder pain. Studies to confirm the results of the present report are warranted.

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is the most common cranial neuralgia in adults, with a slightly higher incidence in women than in men. This chronic pain condition affects the trigeminal nerve, also known as the 5th cranial nerve. It is one of the most deeply distributed nerves in the head. Antiseizure drugs are the main biomedical treatment of TN. However, TN is not the only source of facial pain. Background persistent idiopathic facial pain (PIFP) is also a chronic disorder, recurring daily for more than 2 hours per day over more than 3 months. PIFP occurs in the absence of a neurologic deficit. The underlying pathophysiologies of TN and PIFP are still unknown, and treatment options have not been sufficiently evaluated. Nevertheless, neuropathic mechanisms could be relevant in both TN and PIFP. Cases: A 65-year-old Caucasian female with left facial pain was diagnosed by a neurologist with TN *2.5 years prior to seeking acupuncture treatment. A 42-year-old Caucasian female with left and right facial pain was diagnosed by a neurologist with PIFP *3 years prior to commencing acupuncture treatment. The cause of facial pain was treated with 60-minute sessions of I Ching Balance Acupuncture (ICBA) twice per week. Prior to each session, the effect of the previous session was recorded carefully in the patients' files. Results: A complete dissipation of pain was achieved after 29 and 60 ICBA sessions in the TN and the PIFP patient, respectively. Conclusions: The present article is the one of the first to demonstrate the efficacy of ICBA treatment for refractory facial pain. As the present article shows, ICBA treatment affects facial pain of different types successfully. However, additional larger-scale studies are necessary to validate the efficacy of ICBA in TN and PIFP treatment.

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