Start With the Teeth: Milana Shaikh on Why Chronic Pain Requires a Whole-System Investigation

Most acupuncturists don't ask about your dental work. Milana Shaikh does.

At her Worcester, Massachusetts practice, Shaikh — a licensed acupuncturist, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, and one of a handful of certified Sports Medicine acupuncturists in the state — takes an approach to chronic pain that starts where most practitioners would never think to look. Before needles, before treatment plans, before anything, she wants to know about root canals.

It's the kind of question that makes patients pause. But for Shaikh, it's part of a larger philosophy: chronic pain doesn't live in isolation, and the body doesn't keep its problems neatly separated.

The Question No One Else Is Asking

Shaikh's insistence on dental history isn't fringe medicine — it's a recognition that the body operates as a connected system. The mouth isn't sealed off from the rest of the body, and procedures that leave chronic low-grade inflammation or infection can have effects that radiate far beyond the jaw. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), meridian pathways run through the head and face, and disruptions in one area can manifest as dysfunction in seemingly unrelated systems.

Her whole-system intake reflects a clinical perspective increasingly supported by research. A 2026 integrative review in Healthcare examined the biopsychosocial determinants of functioning in chronic pain, confirming that pain outcomes are shaped by the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors — not by tissue damage alone.^[1] Pain is a systems problem. Shaikh treats it like one.

This perspective echoes the approach of other practitioners in our network. Michelle Bouton, a fellow acupuncturist, has described how chronic pain becomes a pattern the nervous system learns — one that requires unlearning, not just symptom suppression.

Pain Doesn't Stay in One Lane

This is the message Shaikh finds herself delivering again and again: chronic pain is not a local event. It rewires mood, cognition, sleep, and relationships. And it doesn't resolve on a convenient timeline.

The research is unambiguous on both points. A 2026 study in Musculoskeletal Care found that chronic pain patients experience cascading effects across sleep quality, emotional regulation, and social functioning — each domain degrading the others in a feedback loop that accelerates disability.^[5] And a systematic review in Cureus documented the deep entanglement between chronic pain and depression, noting that the two conditions share overlapping neurobiological pathways and amplify each other when untreated.^[4]

For patients who arrive expecting a quick fix, Shaikh's honesty about the timeline can be a shock. But it's also a form of respect. Rather than overpromising, she sets expectations that align with how chronic pain actually behaves — and what the evidence shows about effective management. The lifestyle adjustments she mentions — diet, activity patterns, routine changes — aren't afterthoughts. They're load-bearing pillars of her treatment plans.

This connection between diet, gut health, and pain sensitivity is well-documented. Our guide to the gut-pain connection explores how microbiome disruption can lower pain thresholds and drive systemic inflammation — precisely the kind of whole-body thinking Shaikh brings to her practice.

The Rare Specialist: Electroacupuncture and Sports Medicine

Shaikh's toolbox is unusually deep. Electroacupuncture — which adds a mild electrical current to traditional needle placement — has a growing evidence base for chronic pain conditions. A 2026 review in the Journal of Pain Research analyzed the stage-specific mechanisms of both manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture in inflammatory pain, finding that electroacupuncture activates distinct anti-inflammatory pathways depending on the phase of injury, with particularly strong effects on central sensitization.^[2]

Her sports medicine certification adds another layer. Athletes and active patients present with pain patterns that differ from sedentary populations — overuse injuries, biomechanical compensations, training load issues. Having a practitioner who understands both the meridian system and the kinetic chain is rare, and it gives Shaikh a vocabulary that bridges Eastern and Western frameworks.

The evidence for acupuncture in specific pain conditions continues to strengthen. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis in Frontiers in Medicine found that acupuncture demonstrated significant efficacy in treating chronic sciatica from herniated disks, with effect sizes that compared favorably to conventional interventions.^[3] For patients weighing their options, practitioners like Warren Miles and Benjamin Monti have shared similar perspectives on what acupuncture can offer when conventional approaches plateau.

The Chinese herbal medicine component deserves mention too. While many acupuncturists focus exclusively on needlework, Shaikh's herbal certification allows her to combine modalities — addressing inflammation, sleep, and stress recovery through internal medicine alongside the external stimulation of electroacupuncture. It's a combination that reflects the integrative philosophy of TCM, where internal and external treatments work in concert.

Building a Practice Around Patience

What stands out about Shaikh's approach isn't any single modality — it's the framework. She begins where others skip (dental history, full-system review), names what others minimize (the emotional and cognitive toll of chronic pain), sets expectations others avoid (this takes time), and treats with tools most practitioners don't carry (electroacupuncture, sports medicine protocols, herbal prescriptions).

For patients who have been through the revolving door of short appointments and single-target treatments, that thoroughness isn't just refreshing — it's what effective chronic pain management actually looks like. If you're looking for practitioners who take this approach, our chronic pain specialist directory connects you with providers who treat the whole picture.

Chronic pain doesn't respect boundaries between body systems, and it doesn't respect the clock. Shaikh's practice is built around both truths.