from American WholeHealth
Contents
Acupuncture
and Chronic Pain
Acupuncture
and Soft Tissue Injury
Acupuncture,
Low Back Pain, and Headaches
Acupuncture
and Migraines
Acupuncture,
Drug Treatment, and Migraines
Acupuncture
and Tennis Elbow
Acupuncture
and Post-Operative Dental Pain
Acupuncture
and Whiplash Injury
Acupuncture
and Cranio-Mandibular Disorders
Acupuncture
and Surgical Pain
Acupuncture
and Sciatica
Acupuncture
and Neck-Shoulder Pain
Twenty six chronic pain patients were tested in a baseline plus cross-over design. Half of the subjects were first treated with high intensity acupuncture; then they were treated with low intensity acupuncture. For the other 13 subjects the treatment order was reversed.
In the first treatment sequence subjects reported lower pain and engaging in
more activities of daily living during treatment with high intensity acupuncture
- but not with low intensity acupuncture. In addition, under high intensity
acupuncture (i.e. with low pain levels), subjects had higher levels of serotonin
in the blood; this last finding is consistent with recent research which
implicates central serotonin in pain control. The results of the second
treatment sequence were ambiguous.
----------------------------
High versus low intensity acupuncture analgesia for treatment of chronic pain: effects on platelet serotonin. Mao W; Ghia JN; Scott DS; Duncan GH; Gregg JM. Pain, 8(3):331-42 1980 Jun
Acupuncture and Soft Tissue Injury
Soft tissue injury patients were divided into groups. 360 observations were made on 120 cases of soft tissue injury. Among the 100 patients in the acupuncture treatment group, 300 observations were made; among the 20 controls there were 60 observations.
The effective rate in the acupuncture treatment group was 85.00%; in the control group it was 41.67%, a very significant difference.The effective rate for the first course of treatment was 74.00%; it was 90.50% when more than two courses were given, a very significant difference indicating the marked effect of acupuncture treatment.
There was very significant difference in the degree of pressed pain on the patient's tender spot before and after acupuncture treatment, also in the EMG amplitude on the affected side of the lumbar area before and after acupuncture treatment during light and heavy force in extension action of back muscles.
--------------------
Observations on clinical therapeutic effect in treating soft tissue injuries by
acupuncture, with pain threshold and electromyography as parameters Yuan CX;
Xing JH; Yan CYJ Tradit Chin Med, 9(1):40-4 1989 Mar
Acupuncture, Low Back Pain, and Headaches
Twelve patients suffering chronic low-back pain were treated with both acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical stimulation. The order of treatments was balanced, and changes in the intensity and quality of pain were measured with the McGill Pain Questionnaire.
The results, based on a measure of overall pain intensity, show that pain relief greater than 33% was produced in 75% of the patients by acupuncture and in 66% by electrical stimulation. The mean duration of pain relief was 40 hours after acupuncture and 23 hours after electrical stimulation.
Although the mean scores are larger for acupuncture than for transcutaneous stimulation, statistical analyses of the data failed to reveal significant differences between the two treatments on any of the measures. Both methods, therefore, appear to be equally effective, and probably have the same underlying mechanism of action.
Consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods suggests
that that transcutaneous electrical stimulation is potentially the more
practical, since it can be administered under supervision by paramedical
personnel.
--------------------
Transcutaneous electrical stimulation and acupuncture: comparison of treatment
for low-back pain.Pain, 2(2):141-8 1976 Jun
Twenty-six patients (19 women, 7 men), who suffered from chronic migraine according underwent acupuncture. In order to evaluate the long-term stability of treatment effects, patients documented frequency, duration, and intensity of attacks as well as analgesic intake in a migraine diary, which was kept for 5-week periods before treatment, immediately after treatment, and 3 years later.
Data showed improvement greater than 33% for 18 patients (69%) at
posttreatment and 15 patients (58%) at 3-year follow-up. Drug intake was reduced
to 50% and did not re-increase until follow-up. Treatment outcome was associated
with personality traits, but not depending on demographic data or severity of
migraine.
--------------------
Acupuncture in migraine: long-term outcome and predicting factors. Baischer W
Headache, 35(8):472-4 1995 Sep
go to top
Acupuncture, Drug Treatment, and Migraines
Researchers wanted to compare the effects of needling of trigger points in the neck region to the drug metoprolol in migraine. This was a randomized, double-blind group comparative study.
Included were patients with a history of migraine with or without aura for at least 2 years. Excluded were persons with contraindications against treatment with beta blockers, chronic pain syndromes, pregnancy or previous experience with acupuncture or beta-blocking agents. A total of 85 patients were included; 77 completed the study.
After a 4-week run-in period, patients were allocated to a 17-week regimen either with acupuncture and placebo tablets or to placebo stimulation and the drug metoprolol 100 mg daily.
The results showed that both groups exhibited significant reduction in attack frequency. No difference was found between the groups regarding frequency or duration of attacks, whereas we found a significant difference in global rating of attacks in favour of metoprolol.
The authors conclude that trigger point inactivation by needling is a
valuable supplement to the list of migraine prophylactic tools, being as strong
as the drug metoprolol in the influence on frequency and duration (but not
severity) of attacks, and superior in terms of negative side-effects.
--------------------
Acupuncture versus metoprolol in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized trial of
trigger point inactivation Hesse J; MÍgelvang B; Simonsen H J Intern Med,
235(5):451-6 1994 May
The immediate analgesic effect of a single acupuncture stimulation treatment on chronic tennis elbow pain was studied in a placebo-controlled single-blind trial completed by 48 patients.
Before and after treatment, all patients were examined physically by an unbiased independent examiner.
Overall reduction in the pain score was 55.8% in the treatment group and 15% in the placebo group. After one treatment 19 out of 24 patients in the treatment group (79.2%) reported pain relief of at least 50% (placebo group: six patients out of 24). The average duration of analgesia after one treatment was 20.2 hours in the treatment group and 1.4 hours in the placebo group.
The results are statistically significant; they show that acupuncture has an
intrinsic analgesic effect in the clinical treatment of tennis elbow pain which
exceeds that of placebo acupuncture.
--------------------
The analgesic effect of acupuncture in chronic tennis elbow painMolsberger A;
Hille EBr J Rheumatol, 33(12):1162-5 1994 Dec
go to top
Acupuncture and Post-Operative Dental Pain
The analgesic effects of acupuncture were compared with those of codeine in the treatment of postoperative dental pain in 40 healthy male volunteers 18 to 30 years old.
Upon the patient's recovery from local anesthesia (lidocaine), he was asked by a trained observer to classify the intensity of his pain as none, mild, moderate, or severe. He then received one of the following treatments: 1. Placebo: lactose, plus acupuncture placebo 2. Codeine: codeine, plus acupuncture placebo 3. Acupuncture: lactose, plus 2 points 4. Codeine - acupuncture: codeine, plus 2 points.
The pain intensity score was recorded by the observer at half-hour intervals
for 3 hours. Patients in treatment groups 2, 3 and 4 showed significantly
greater pain relief than those in treatment group 1. For the 1st half hour,
there was more pain relief with acupuncture treatment alone than with codeine
plus acupuncture treatment. However, for the 2, 2 1/2, and 3-hour periods,
codeine plus Ho-Ku produced more pain relief than any of the other treatments.
--------------------
Comparison of the effects of acupuncture and codeine on
postoperative dental pain. Sung YF; Kutner MH; Cerine FC; Frederickson ELAnesth
Analg, 56(4):473-8 1977 Jul-Aug
Acupuncture and Whiplash Injury
In this study, by means of computerized static posturography, the researchers evaluated the postural changes after treatment in a group of 15 patients with balance disorders caused by whiplash injury.
The acupuncture treatment consisted of 3 sessions (one weekly session for 3 weeks) during which the acupuncture points. Each patient underwent posturographic evaluations before and just after each session of acupuncture. The posturographic tests were performed with open eyes, closed eyes ( and closed eyes with retroflexed head.
As a control group, the researchers used 17 patients complaining of the same symptoms as the study group due to whiplash injury, but treated with drugs (FANS and myorelaxing) and physiotherapy only. The patients of the control group also underwent posturographic tests once a week for three weeks.
The researchers observed a significant difference between the two groups
regarding the reduction of the closed eyes with retroflexed head. The high
percentage of positive results in the whiplash injury patients leads the
investigators to advocate the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture for balance
disorders due to cervical pathology, where it can be associated with or be a
valid alternative to pharmacological treatment.
--------------------
Acupuncture treatment for balance disorders following whiplash injury Fattori B
; Borsari C ; Vannucci G ; Casani A ; Cristofani R ; Bonuccelli L ; Ghilardi
PLAcupunct Electrother Res 1996 Jul-Dec;21(3-4):207-17
go to top
Acupuncture and Cranio-Mandibular Disorders
The aim of the thesis was to compare the short- and long-term effects of acupuncture and occlusal splint therapy in patients with craniomandibular disorders (CMD). One hundred and ten patients, 23 males and 87 females, participated in the study. All patients exhibited moderate or severe signs and symptoms of CMD and had had pain for more than six months.
The participants were randomly assigned to three groups: acupuncture, occlusal splint therapy or control. Ten different subjective and/or clinical assessment variables were used in the evaluation of the treatment effect. Immediately after treatment, acupuncture and occlusal splint therapy had reduced the symptoms as compared with the control group which remained essentially unchanged.
Acupuncture gave better subjective results than occlusal splint in the short-term. In the 12-month long-term follow-up, 57% of the patients who received acupuncture and 68% of the patients who received occlusal splints benefitted subjectively and clinically from the treatment.
There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in any of the assessment variables. Those patients who received various additional therapies following acupuncture and/or occlusal splints rarely responded favorably to additional treatment. No serious adverse events or complications were observed in the study. Acupuncture seems to have adverse events of a more general nature whereas adverse events of the occlusal splint seem to be more related to the orofacial region.
The majority of the patients responded positively to the comfort of both treatment modes. In order to measure tenderness (pressure pain threshold, PPT) more objectively, the usefulness of an algometer was evaluated. A good reliability and validity was found for the algometer in recording the PPT in the masticatory muscles.
The reliability was further improved by connection of a stopwatch to the algometer so that the pressure rate could be kept within acceptable limits. A moderate but statistically significant correlation was found between PPT and clinical and subjective variables.
The algometer was sensitive enough to detect pre- and post-treatment changes.
A statistically significant reduction in tenderness was found immediately after
and at the 6-month follow-up for both treatment modes. This series of studies
showed that acupuncture gave positive results similar to those of occlusal
splint therapy in patients with primarily myogenic CMD symptoms over a 1-year
period.
--------------------
Acupuncture in the treatment of patients with craniomandibular disorders.
Comparative, longitudinal and methodological studies List TSwed Dent J Suppl,
87():1-159 1992
Thirty six patients (18 males and 18 females, mean age 51 years) were prepared for colonoscopy with acupuncture, without acupuncture or pretend acupuncture at points not expected to bring about pain relief.
In the 12 acupuncture patients mean pain sensitivity, estimated during the examination by means of a visual analog scale, was significantly lower (1 than in the groups without acupuncture or pretend acupuncture.
In addition, analgesics and sedatives needed to be given significantly less
to those with acupuncture than those without (analgesics to five, sedatives to
eight patients) or with pretend acupuncture (analgesics tofour, sedatives to
five patients). These data demonstrate that pain connected with colonoscopy can
be reduced by preceding acupuncture.
--------------------
Acupuncture to alleviate pain during colonoscopy Li CK; Nauck M; Löser C; Fölsch
UR; Creutzfeldt W Dtsch Med Wochenschr, 116(10):367-70 1991 Mar 8
Responses to acupuncture were studied in 30 patients with acute sciatica. Objective and subjective criteria were analyzed before treatment and after five sessions of acupuncture. The study was double blind.
Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 15 were treated on electrically detected points and 15 on placebo points.
In the placebo group, no significant improvement was recorded. Conversely, in the treated group, study of objective criteria showed improvement of the Lasegue sign.
Among subjective symptoms, positive responses were recorded in the duration
of improvement, degree of improvement in decubitus and after ten minutes
standing, and use of analgesics. Compared to the placebo group these changes are
statistically significant.
------------------------
Acupuncture and sciatica in the acute phase. Double-blind study of 30 cases
Duplan B ; Cabanel G ; Piton JL ; Grauer JL ; Phelip X [Sem Hop 1983 Dec
8;59(45):3109-14]
Acupuncture and Neck-Shoulder Pain
Thirty-seven patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain were treated with a series of electro-acupuncture treatments. All patients had been unresponsive to previous conventional and placebo treatments for their pain. This was a double blind study.
Researchers looked at the hypnotic profile for each patient and found that there was no correlation between acupuncture results and hypnotic suggestability.
Twenty-four or 64.9% patients obtained significant long term improvement. An
increase in regional microcirculation by peripheral sympathetic blockade from
electro-acupuncture is thought to be responsible for the tissue healing and
subsequent pain relief.
------------------------
Long-term therapeutic effects of electro-acupuncture for chronic neck and
shoulder pain--a double blind study. Peng AT ; Behar S ; Yue S [J Acupunct
Electrother Res 1987;12(1):37-44]
go to top
Home