Pre-Surgical and Post-Surgical Acupuncture: Inflammation and Integration

Often when someone thinks of think of surgery, we often focus solely on the 'fix,' which might be the repaired ligament, or a replaced joint, or a modification to a blockage or impingement. At Thrive Integrative and Sports Medicine, Dr. Tyler Andres DAOM LAc looks at surgery through the lens of a larger bio-physiological timeline.

Whether you are an elite athlete training for a peak performance, or a grandparent determined to keep up with your grandkids on the trails around the foothills of Colorado, the success of a procedure depends heavily on the state of the 'terrain' of the body.

When there is talk about the terrain of the body, what does that mean?

The Three Pillars of the "Biological Terrain"

To understand the terrain is to look past the specific symptom (like shoulder pain, for example) and look at the environment that the shoulder exists in. It is generally composed of three interconnected layers:

1. The Structural Terrain (Scaffolding)

This refers to the physical integrity of your myofascial system, tendons, ligaments, and bones.

• The Health of Fascia: In a healthy terrain, fascia is hydrated and pliable, allowing muscles to move without friction.

• Tension vs. Plasticity: A compromised terrain can be brittle or hypertonic (excessively tight) which can make it prone to tearing rather than stretching.

  
  

2. The Biochemical Terrain (Fluid Dynamics)

This is often called the interstitial space or the extracellular matrix and is made up of the fluid that bathes every single cell in your body.

• Microcirculation: The terrain’s ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients via tiny capillaries.

• Waste Removal: How efficiently the body clears out pro-inflammatory chemicals and metabolic waste (like lactic acid or cytokines).

• Inflammatory Baseline: If the body has high levels of systemic inflammation this can mean that even a small injury can trigger a bigger, more painful response.

  
  

3. The Neurological Terrain (Software)

This is the state of your Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).

• Parasympathetic vs. Sympathetic: If your terrain is stuck in a fight or flight state (sympathetic) the body prioritizes survival over repair.

• Healing State: A healthy terrain is one that can easily shift into a parasympathetic "rest and digest" state, which is the only environment where deep tissue regeneration and cellular repair can actually occur.

Preparing the Terrain: A Pre-Surgical Advantage

At Thrive Integrative and Sports medicine Dr. Tyler does acupuncture differently. The focus in a pre-surgical context is the health of the myofascial tissue, the ligaments and tendons, and even the matrix leading down into bone. The treatment approach is not just 'relaxing' muscles or treating a trigger point as seen in dry needling; the treatment is also increasing the plasticity (the ability for the body to adapt and integrate), and the physical flexibility of the area.

Chronic injury often leads to restricted movement and hypertonicity (which refers to excessive tension in soft tissue structure).

By utilizing specific acupuncture protocols before you go under the knife, we can:

• Manage Inflammation Markers: Lowering the baseline of systemic inflammation before the trauma of surgery.

• Optimize Blood Flow: Ensuring that the surgical site is well-oxygenated and primed for repair.

• Regulate the Nervous System: Surgery is a stressor. Acupuncture has been shown to shift the body into a parasympathetic state—the "rest and digest" mode—which is essential for a calm, open, and resilient recovery.

Research indicates that acupuncture and more advance approaches to dry needling can effectively normalize abnormal muscle spindle activity, which in turn reduces the stiffness that often complicates surgical access and recovery (Kużdżał et al., 2024).

Utilizing Classical Acupuncture approaches before surgery can:

• Manage Inflammation Markers: Pre-operative acupuncture has been shown to mitigate the body's stress response, lowering pro-inflammatory factors like IL-6 and TNF-α (LI, 2026).

• Optimize Blood Flow: Acupuncture induces nitric oxide-mediated vasodilation, which increases local blood flow and primes the tissue for repair (Ma, 2017).

• Regulate the Nervous System: Surgery is a major stressor that triggers the "fight or flight" sympathetic response. Acupuncture helps shift the body into a parasympathetic state—increasing vagal tone to foster a "rest and digest" environment that is essential for resilient recovery (LI, 2026; Yoganathan, 2025).

Post-Operative Integration: Beyond Standard Physical Therapies

Post-surgical care is often limited to protecting the incision and standard physical therapy interventions with exercises, stretching and soft tissue work. While these are vital, acupuncture as Dr Tyler Andres DAOM LAc practices lends a unique approach which intertwines ancient wisdom with modern bio-physiological support system during the healing phase.

After surgery, the body naturally creates scar tissue and fibrotic adhesions (hardened scar tissue). Without intervention, these can lead to nerve entrapment and restricted myofascial movement. Our approach focuses on the 'cleanup' and plasticity of the surgical site to reduce recovery time, decrease swelling and pain, and allow the body to regain strength.

The Role of Nitric Oxide and Microcirculation

Acupuncture triggers the release of nitric oxide, a key signaling molecule that:

1. Opens Micro-capillaries: This floods the healing tissue with oxygen and nutrients.

2. Reduces Pro-inflammatory Chemicals: Accelerating the transition from the acute inflammatory phase to the regenerative phase.

3. Addresses "Localized Trauma": Helping the brain re-map its connection to the injured area, reducing the risk of chronic post-op pain, often elevated after major procedures (LI, 2026).

A Different Standard of Care in Salida

With 15 years of experience in physical rehabilitation and working with trauma, physical health and rehabiliation, Thrive Integrative and Sports Medicine has seen how the integration of East Asian medicine and modern neurobiology changes outcomes.

Dr Andres doesn't just look at the body in separate pieces, he looks at the integration of the human body through different systems. At Thrive, our treatment planning is designed to bridge the gap between structural modification and functional movement. If you are preparing for surgery or navigating the road to recovery, let’s ensure you are ready for the journey.

References

Kużdżał, A., Clemente, F. M., Klich, S., Kawczyński, A., & Trybulski, R. (2024). Combination of Manual Therapy and Dry Needling Effectively Improves Acute Neck Pain and Muscular Tone and Stiffness in Combat Sports Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Study. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 23, 852–853. https://doi.org/10.52082/jssm.2024.852 Cited by: 7

LI, J. M. (2026). Multistage acupuncture intervention perioperatively: a clinical optimization plan based on the ERAS concept. Frontiers in Medicine. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2026.1782473

Ma, S. (2017). Nitric oxide signaling molecules in acupoints: Toward mechanisms of acupuncture. Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine, 23(11), 812–815. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-017-2789-x Cited by: 46

Tan, J. (2025). Effect of press needle stimulation on postoperative pulmonary complications in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery patients: a randomized controlled trial. Annals of Medicine, 57(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2025.2560684 Cited by: 3

Wang, C. (2025). Mechanisms of electroacupuncture effects visualized by infrared imaging. Proceedings of SPIE, 13726. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3073769

Yoganathan, D. (2025). Effects of Yoga and naturopathic intervention on cardiac autonomic functions in chronic kidney disease with coronary artery disease – A Case Series. Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine.