May 16
Acupuncture is effective in reliving pain for many.
Acupuncture works for me.
That seemingly strange treatment where a trained and licensed practitioner sticks needles about my body has been practiced for centuries in Asia. It is used to treat most pain conditions – including lower back pain, shingles and other nerve pain, hand and knee pain, headaches, fibromyalgia and menstrual pain.
Official research on the effectiveness of acupuncture produces mixed results, according to the Harvard Healthbeat newsletter.
Tagged with: Pain
Apr 30
An exciting research has found that new type of acupuncture treatment provides a longer lasting pain relief, to the delight of many pain sufferers.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina have found a way to deliver long-lasting pain relief through a new therapeutic approach to acupuncture. The promising treatment, which they call PAPupuncture, gave several days of pain relief in animal studies.
Several years ago UNC scientists documented how injecting prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) into the spine eased chronic pain in rodents. The only problem was PAP’s delivery.
Tagged with: Pain
Feb 21
Army doctors are trained in acupuncture to treat soldiers in pain.
Army doctors have been told by the top brass to rethink their “pill for every ill” approach to treating pain. So for the 47,000 troops who’ve been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, some of the new options include less tried and true methods like massage and chiropractic treatments as well as an increasing emphasis on acupuncture.
The military hopes to win over skeptics, many of them in uniform.
“I’m one of them,” says Col. Rochelle Wasserman, who directs the Warrior Care Clinic at Fort Campbell.
But to her own surprise, she’s also now the unit’s physician trained to do acupuncture.
Tagged with: Pain
Feb 11
Acupuncture is known to be effecting in relieving pain.
Acupuncture is a technique of traditional Chinese medicine. The theory is that the body maintains a delicate balance of two opposing forces. Disease occurs when these forces are out of balance. This imbalance is believed to block the flow of vital energy. This energy regulates spiritual, emotional, mental and physical balance.
The Chinese believe that by inserting thin needles at specific points on the body, acupuncture unblocks the flow of vital energy. This, in turn, restores health to the body and mind.
Tagged with: Pain
Feb 09
Did you know that there are natural herbs that can help to relieve pain.
Many people find winter to be the hardest season on joint and back pain because of the cooler weather. If pain has you feeling older than your years, you will be happy to know there are many natural healing herbs that can bring relief without the side effects. Here are five natural herbs—some that you may find in your own kitchen—that will bring you relief from head to toe!
Tagged with: Pain
Dec 25
The military is using acupuncture to relieve pain and stress.
Acupuncture can treat both acute and chronic pain, obesity through appetite suppression, tobacco addiction, anxiety disorders, hormonal disorders such as menopausal symptoms, allergy and sinus problems, rashes and can promote overall well-being, Hanley said.
“There are multiple types of acupuncture,” Hanley said. “In addition to the meridian system that most people think of with points all over the body, there is also Chinese scalp acupuncture were needles are threaded just under the surface of the scalp to stimulate regions or stripes to effect pain, motor function, hearing, vision, balance and any number of issues.
Tagged with: Pain • Stress
Dec 23
Cancer patients are turning to acupuncture to relieve pain from chemotherapy.
Cancer drugs called taxanes, vinca alkaloids and platinum compounds can damage peripheral nerves, especially in the calves and feet, resulting in severe nerve pain or difficulty walking.
Currently, there is no effective treatment for the condition, called chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.
This small, preliminary study included six patients with peripheral neuropathy who underwent acupuncture and five patients with peripheral neuropathy who served as a comparison group. The acupuncture treatment involved insertion of 20 needles at specific points and depths, which were left in place for 20 minutes during each of the 10 sessions delivered by a doctor over a period of three months.
Tagged with: Chemotherapy • Pain
Dec 12
Acupuncture may ease severe nerve pain that comes with cancer treatment.
Cancer patients treated with taxanes, vinca alkaloids, or platinum compounds can develop a condition known as chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN for short, as a by-product of their treatment. These powerful drugs can damage peripheral nerves, particularly in the calves and feet, which can result in severe nerve pain and/or difficulty walking. As yet, there is no effective antidote.
Out of a total of 192 patients with peripheral neuropathy eligible for inclusion in the study, 11 had developed their symptoms during a course of chemotherapy for various types of cancer. Six of these patients agreed to undergo acupuncture; the other five served as a comparison group.
Twenty needles were inserted at prescribed points and depths and left in place for 20 minutes during each of the 10 sessions. These were delivered over a period of three months by a senior doctor, who had been fully trained in acupuncture and had used the technique for 20 years.
Tagged with: Pain
Nov 16
Acupuncture can help you tackle pain and live a less distress life.
I arrived home from a meeting at the weekend to find three family members on the couch in a gloomy mood.
Each had some minor pain that was preventing them doing their weekend activities.
The first had neck pain that came on after long hours at his desk in a new job.
The second had knee pain after stacking boxes at work and the third had ovulation pain.
Normally in any Chinese medicine consultation, questions are asked and checks done to get to the cause of a problem and rule out more serious causes that may require a referral to a GP.
Tagged with: Pain
Oct 26
Acupuncture can help you relieve pain.
For those who struggle with unremitting pain, I would like to offer an alternate treatment: acupuncture.
Acupuncture is a medicine with over 3,000 years of practice. Unfortunately it is not well understood or utilized by our society. I am often saddened by those who come for treatment after years of pain. For many, acupuncture is a treatment of last resort.
Two main ideas seem to keep people from trying acupuncture: a belief that it must hurt and skepticism about its basic tenet for healing – Qi or life energy. Acupuncture should not hurt. Acupuncture needles are filiform – so thin and flexible that they can be bent in a greater than 90-degree curve and then pop back to their original shape. Acupuncturists insert these needles quickly and with care.
Tagged with: Pain
