Common Pain Syndromes: A NEW APPROACH

Revision of 100 common pain syndromes

Learn to palpate 40 common trigger points

With 4 Youtube videos, learn effective YNSA in 30 minutes

About the book

Common Pain Syndromes: A New Approach provides a synopsis of common pain syndromes, their diagnostic features, and conventional Western medical management.

Secondly, it emphasises myofascial trigger points' important role in various pain syndromes and how to palpate for them. Lastly, it introduces a relatively new, 50-year-old modality, Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture (YNSA), to treat trigger points.

The book illustrates these ideas with more than 175 drawings and includes 35 case studies of different pain syndromes.

These case studies illustrate the process of history taking, investigations, diagnosis, and treatment, employing conventional Western medical treatments and acupuncture.

To see the Table of Contents Click Here

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Front cover of Dr Joe Cheung's book - "Common Pain Syndromes: A New Approach"

Testimonies

DR. RALPH BALLARD MBBS, FAMAC Medical Acupuncturist

Fellow of the Australian Medical Acupuncture College
Medical Acupuncturist at The Northern Hospital, Epping 2007–2014
Assistant Medical Acupuncturist at Preston And Northcote Community Hospital 1992-2000
Lecturer in the Monash University Graduate Certificate in Medical Acupuncture 2008-2013
Co-Ordinator of the Medical Acupuncture Unit in the Post Graduate Diploma of Integrative Medicine, Swinburne University 2001-2005
Lecturer with the Australian Medical Acupuncture College 1991 to 2025
Examiner with the Australian Medical Acupuncture College 2020 to 2025

Author of "Laser Acupuncture - A Personal View".  Available on amazon.com.

“Dr. Joe Cheung is an experienced medical acupuncturist who has been using Yamamato New Scalp Acupuncture (YNSA) for a number of years.

He has come up with a very useful simplified system of YNSA acupuncture to effectively treat trigger points associated with chronic pain.

Joe has developed this knowledge into an effective teaching system embracing an understanding of chronic musculoskeletal pain syndromes, palpating trigger points in the tissues and treating them with simplified YNSA scalp acupuncture.

I heartily endorse Joe's book "Common Pain Syndromes - A New Approach" and recommend it to all acupuncturists.”

Associate Professor Jonathan Mulford

MBBS (Honours) University of Tasmania
FRACS (Ortho)
Fellow in Orthopaedics. Royal Australian College of Surgeons
Diploma in Clinical Trials Univeristy of London
Appointed Head of Unit Launceston General Hospital and Director of Training 2016
Arranged orthopaedic fellowship position at the Launceston General Hospital 2018

“Dr Joe Cheung is an experienced General Practitioner. He reminds medical practitioners to take detailed history and examination to assist with correct musculoskeletal diagnosis. His techniques to relieve pain are low risk and may well reduce chronic pain syndromes and the need for opioids.”

Dr. Leonie Yen MBBS, FRACGP, DCH, FAMAC, GP  & Medical Acupuncturist

President of AMAC(Australian Medical Acupuncture College) NSW Branch
RACGP Examiner 1994-2010
UNSW Medical Student Tutor 2003-2005
UNSW Medical Student GP Clinical supervisor 2013-2015

“Dr Joe Cheung has produced  a comprehensive & useful practical guide to the  4 most common regions of musculoskeletal pain in primary care . He explores the important role of myofascial trigger points in the pain syndromes & demonstrates how to palpate & treat them using both conventional & acupuncture methods . This approach would certainly  be beneficial in helping reduce our overuse of NSAID's & opiates which causes significant harm to our patient as there are more than 350 NSAID related deaths & more than 1500 prescription opiate related deaths per year in Australia alone. Thus I highly recommend "Common Pain syndrome - A New Approach " to any GP & Medical Acupuncturist ”

  • In 2022, I met Dr Joe Cheung to treat my left knee, which had been painfully swollen for over three years. It was filled with fluid, hard to bend, and often kept me up at night. I relied heavily on anti-inflammatories and painkillers. Despite seeing numerous specialists — from knee specialist, orthopedic, rheumatologist, acupuncturists and physios to podiatrists — nothing helped. An MRI showed degeneration in my knee cartilage, and I started to accept that this might be permanent. For someone who loves yoga and strength training, I felt deeply frustrated as I was unable to do a lot of poses anymore. One day, I asked Dr Cheung if it was safe to keep taking painkillers regularly. Instead, he suggested YNSA scalp acupuncture. After just 2–3 treatments, the swelling and pain began to ease. By the sixth session, my knee was back to normal — pain-free and no longer swollen. It was a game changer. I never thought I’d have a normal knee again. I’ve since returned to strength training and am thrilled to move freely without pain.

    Patient - Female 59 years old, Diagnosis - moderate knee osteoarthritis and gracilis and quadricep TrPs

  • I had a very severe pain from my lower back down my right leg. The pain had been there for 3 months. Dr Cheung treated me with YNSA, putting the acupuncture needles on my head! After 7 treatments, the pain had disappeared. It has been 18 months, and the pain hasn't returned. I highly recommend to anyone wishing to try YNSA.

    Patient - Male 64 years old, Diagnosis - Piriformis TrPs

  • I had a constant pain between my shoulder blades which I suffered for three years due to my work nature. Dr Cheung used an acupuncture method called YNSA to treat me. After 8 weekly treatments the stubborn pain had completely subsided and combining with the right exercises, the pain hasn't returned since, it has been almost 2 years.  I am thankful for Dr Cheung's acupuncture treatment which helped me to live my life pain free again. Highly recommend and definitely worth giving it a go.

    Patient - Female 54 years old, Diagnosis - Rhomboid TrPs