Back and neck pain is one of the most common medical complaints. Its causes are clinically divided into two aspects: mechanical and non-mechanical origins. Mechanical origins simply result from overuse or violent injury of the spine and/or its adjacent soft tissues. Contrarily, non-mechanical origins are very complicated, involving a wide variety of diseases, such as degenerative joint diseases, rheumatologic diseases, infections, tumors, visceral conditions referring pain to back and neck, and many other systemic disorders. However, degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases cause more than 99% of the non-mechanical back and neck pain.

The following synopsis presents a new approach in treating non-mechanical back and neck pain developed by Dr. Samuel Wang at Acupuncture Herbal Center, San Rafael, California. The paper in its entirety was awarded Grand Prize for Outstanding Achievements at the Fifth World Conference of Traditional Medicine in 2000.

Dr. Samuel Wang and Deirdra Claiborne are the founders of the latest microcosmic theory of Chinese medicine. In light of this, they have developed their unique Wang’s Classification for the diagnosis and treatment of degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases. According to Wang’s classification, all the degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases are divided into two main categories: Yang deficiency type and External Pathogenic Factor type, plus a borderline type between these two main categories. Clinical studies show that using Wang’s classification has significantly increased the success rates of treatment, and has succeeded in many difficult cases that had previously failed to respond to either conventional Western or classical Chinese medicine.

Many past scholars in Chinese medicine have achieved great accomplishments in mechanical back and neck pain, but none of them have made a breakthrough in comprehensive studies of non-mechanical back and neck pain. Dr. Wang and Claiborne have bridged these gaps.

The Microcosmic Theory and Dr. Wang’s Classification

In the past, the pattern differentiations in Chinese medicine for degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases were so confusing that different Oriental scholars classified the same Western disease into quite contradictory patterns of Chinese medicine. Although they created so many different patterns for degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases, none of them saw the real causes of these diseases. These Oriental scholars only used the viewpoint of classical Chinese medicine (and the research methodology thereof), i.e., the macrocosmic projection to analyze each individual Western disease. However, they completely neglected the microcosmic view of each individual disease, and their pattern differentiations in Chinese medicine were completely dissociated with the achievements in modern Western medical sciences.

To solve this limited perspective, Dr. Wang and Claiborne have applied the unique dialectical philosophy of Chinese medicine in microcosmic view to explore the achievements in modern Western medicine. They have discussed this new research methodology in detail in their previous article, The Research Methodology of Chinese Medicine. With this new methodology, they have developed the latest microcosmic theory of Chinese medicine, which enables Chinese medicine to be naturally integrated with modern Western medicine. Generally, microcosmic theory of Chinese medicine is quite similar to classical Chinese medicine in its macrocosmic aspect, emphasizing the coordination of the whole body. However, its microcosmic patterns are focused on the local pathological changes or on the function of a specific system of the body. Pulse, tongue and facial complexion diagnoses are routinely used in classical Chinese medicine, but they only reflect the macrocosmic patterns of Chinese medicine. The microcosmic patterns of Chinese medicine mostly correlate with the individual Western diseases. Therefore, in the same patient, the microcosmic patterns may not always be compatible with the macrocosmic ones. Applying the microcosmic theory of Chinese medicine to degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases that cause non-mechanical back and neck pain, Dr. Wang and his associate have developed a new classification, named Wang’s classification.

The Importance of Wang’s Classification in Diagnosis and Treatment of Degenerative Joint Diseases and Rheumatologic Diseases

Chinese medicine can effectively treat many disorders causing non-mechanical back and neck pain, including herpes zoster, Lyme disease, chronic urinary infection, small urinary stones, prostatitis, cystitis, endometriosis, chronic pelvic inflammatory diseases, chronic angina, menstrual cramps, chronic pancreatitis, peptic ulcer, chronic diverticulitis and osteoporosis. Furthermore, those serious underlying diseases causing non-mechanical back and neck pain, such as cancer and acute infection, may also respond positively to the integrated treatments of both Western and Chinese medicines. For the above diseases, the diagnostic procedures first follow the protocol of Western medical diagnosis, and then each Western diagnosis is subdivided into different microcosmic patterns of Chinese medicine. All the degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases are effectively treated by Chinese medicine. However, the above diagnostic procedures will be complicated and often confusing. Especially at the early stages of degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases, it may be difficult to make a positive Western diagnosis according to the above. Interestingly, Wang’s classification of degenerative joint diseases and rheumatologic diseases employs another way to approach the diagnosis and treatment. This new classification is straightforward, concise and comprehensive, directly giving significant guidelines to treatment in Chinese medicine without making a concrete Western diagnosis. Therefore, when Wang’s classification is applied, the complicated Western diagnostic procedures may be bypassed.