Traditional Chinese massage therapy for palpitation caused by spine disorders: A case report

Introduction: Palpitation is a common complaint among patients presenting to emergency departments or cardiologists. Palpitation caused by organic heart diseases, such as coronary atherosclerotic heart disease and hypertensive heart disease, may be a sign of a life-threatening condition. In such cases, treatment with western medicines or surgeries is warranted. However, for patients with palpitation caused by non -cardiac factors, western medicine treatment is often ineffective, and traditional Chinese medicine has comparatively superior advantage. With the change in people's lifestyle and habits in the past decades, the time spent sitting and that with a forward head posture is increasing, which has accelerated the process of spinal aging and increased the incidence rate of spinal diseases.Case presentation: A 54-year-old female presented with paroxysmal palpitations, chest depression, and neck pain that had lasted for more than 2 months. Western medicine diagnosis was palpitations due to spinal disorders, while the traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis was palpitation (heart and spleen deficiency). The patient was treated with traditional Chinese massage, 30 min sessions, 5 times a week, 3 weeks totally. Subsequently, the patient's neck pain and numbness disappeared and the palpitations, chest tightness, and dizziness ameliorated. The patient resumed regular appetite, experienced better sleep, and had further improvement of spirit, enabling her to lead a normal life.Conclusions: Traditional Chinese massage therapy can relieve muscle spasm, regulate cervical facet joint disorder and dislocation, release adhesion, relieve synovial incarceration, restore the dynamic and static balance of the cervical spine, improve blood circulation of the cervical spine, increase the nutritional supply of the cervical spine and surrounding soft tissue, and promote metabolism and tissue repair. All these advantages make it a good complementary and alternative therapy for palpitation caused by spine disorders.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of World Journal of Acupuncture Moxibustion House.