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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA

Categories: Miscellaneous

A randomised placebo-controlled single-blind study of 50 patients in Germany compared the analgesic effect of needling a single acupuncture point (on the arm) traditionally indicated for knee pain, with a simulated acupuncture treatment (control group) in postoperative knee pain following total knee replacement. The acupuncture group showed significantly greater pain relief lasting several hours. ...

AURICULOPRESSURE AND PAIN RELIEF

Categories: Miscellaneous

The effect of auriculopressure on pain relief was assessed by comparing two groups of healthy students. In the first group, auriculopressure was applied to the 'toe' ear point and pressure sensitivity at the toe was measured with an algometer before and after treatment. The increase in pain threshold was statistically significant compared with a control group who received placebo stimulation at th ...

TENS VERSUS ACUPUNCTURE

Categories: Miscellaneous

A study has shown that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is less effective than electro-acupuncture in the treatment of chronic pain. 156 patients with chronic pain (lower back ache, osteoarthritis of the knee, and cervical spondylosis) were divided into two groups (one TENS and one electro-acupuncture) and each given fifteen treatments. In the acupuncture group, pain relief was m ...

CArpal tunnel syndrome

Categories: Hand & wrist

31 patients (36 hands) with carpal tunnel syndrome of a mean 24 months duration, with 14 hands having failed either one or two surgical release procedures, were treated by combined therapy. Primary treatment was low-level laser acupuncture and microamps TENS, and secondary treatment included regular needling and Chinese herbal formulas and supplements. Treatment was given three times a week for 4- ...

ACUPUNCTURE & PAIN

Categories: Miscellaneous, Facial

A study carried out at the Department for Family Medicine at the University of Maryland has shown that acupuncture is more effective than placebo in the treatment of postoperative oral surgery pain (Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery 1999; 125(5): 567-572).

Acupuncture and spine cord injury

Categories: Back, Spinal cord

Acupuncture is effective in treating chronic pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) according to research carried out at the Department of Psychiatry, New Jersey Medical School. Twenty-two patients with SCI who suffered moderate to severe pain of at least six months duration received a course of 15 acupuncture treatments over a seven and a half week period after an equivalent assessment period wi ...

AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE FOR ACUTE PAIN

Categories: Miscellaneous

A randomised controlled pilot study compared the effects of standard emergency medical care to auricular acupuncture plus standard care in patients with acute pain syndromes. Eighty-seven people with a diagnosis of acute pain completed the emergency room (ER) trial. Participants in the acupuncture group experienced a 23% reduction in pain before leaving the ER, while average pain levels in partici ...

AUDIT OF ACUPUNCTURE FOR MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN

Categories: Miscellaneous

A retrospective audit of case histories, carried out in a Spanish primary care pain treatment unit, has concluded that acupuncture is effective in treating musculoskeletal pain. Electronically stored case histories of 5981 patients who sought acupuncture treatment for non-oncological pain at the unit, over a nine-year period, were reviewed. The primary outcome measure was the 'success rate', defin ...

AMBULANCE ACUPRESSURE REDUCES BROKEN ARM PAIN

Categories: Miscellaneous

Applying acupressure to Baihui DU-20 and Hegu L.I.-4 while in transit to hospital effectively reduces pain and anxiety in patients with distal radial fractures. Acupressure was performed in the ambulance on a group of 32 patients either at true acupressure points or at sham points. Vital signs, and pain and anxiety scores were recorded before and after the acupressure treatment. At the hospital, p ...

ACUPUNCTURE BENEFITS PROSTATE PAIN

Categories: Male disorders, Miscellaneous

Acupuncture treatment is more than twice as likely as sham treatment to improve men's symptoms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Malaysian researchers randomised 89 patients to ten weeks of twice-weekly 30-minute true or sham acupuncture sessions. The patients were scored on the NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). Response to treatment was defined as a minimum six- ...

Does acupuncture relieve pain?

Categories: Miscellaneous

A systematic review carried out in Denmark and published in the BMJ has concluded that pain relief with acupuncture is minimal and mainly due to placebo effect. However, an accompanying editorial mitigates this seemingly negative result, explaining that interpreting the effects of sham acupuncture may be essential in understanding acupuncture's true analgesic effect. The systematic review assessed ...

ACUPUNCTURE REDUCES POSTOPERATIVE PAEDIATRIC PAIN

Categories: Babies & children / paediatrics, Miscellaneous

American clinicians have carried out a nonrandomised pilot study to determine the feasibility of acupuncture for acute postoperative pain control in hospitalised children. 20 patients (aged 7 months to 18 years) who had undergone a variety of surgical interventions received two 10 to 15-minute sessions of acupuncture 24-48 hours apart. The treatment was found to be highly acceptable (of 27 patient ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR BREAST CANCER DRUG PAIN

Categories: Cancer, Miscellaneous

A preliminary trial by an American team has found acupuncture to be a promising way of treating arthralgia in women receiving aromatase inhibitors (AIs) for breast cancer. Twelve patients were provided with electro-acupuncture (EA) twice a week for two weeks, followed by six weekly treatments. Acupuncture was based on the TCM diagnosis of bi syndrome, with electrostimulation of needles around the ...

30 MINUTES OF ELECTRO-ACUPUNCTURE OPTIMAL FOR PAIN RELIEF

Categories: Miscellaneous

A team from the USA has found that the duration of electro-acupuncture treatment can affect its analgesic effect. Healthy volunteers were randomised to receive 0, 20, 30 or 40 minutes of electro-acupuncture stimulation (alternating 2/100 Hz at 5mA). Using a cold pain threshold test, the investigators found that 30 min of stimulation resulted in the most significant hypoalgesic effect, which was su ...

ACUPUNCTURE & OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

Categories: Knee

44 patents with advanced osteoarthritis of the knee who were awaiting total knee joint replacements were given acupuncture either on the most affected knee only, or on both knees. Points needled were Yinlingquan SP-9, Xuehai SP-10, Liangqiu ST-34, Zusanli ST-36 and Hegu L.I.-4. Results showed a significant reduction in symptoms in both groups with no signficant dfference between the two groups, su ...

ACUPUNCTURE & KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

60 patients on a waiting list for total knee replacement were randomly divided into two groups. 30 received "medical acupuncture" using one inch needles inserted "deeply" at Yinlingquan SP-9, Xuehai SP-10, Liangqiu ST 34, Zusanli ST-36 and Hegu L.I.-4. The needles were manipulated manually 4 times during a 15 minute retention and patients received a total of 6 weekly treatments ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

Categories: Knee

30 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee were randomised to one of three groups: 1. acupuncture alone at Hegu L.I.-4, Xuehai SP-10, Xiyan (MN-LE-16), Yinlingquan SP-9, Yanglingquan GB-34, Zusanli ST-36, Taichong LIV-3, Weizhong BL-40 and Chengshan BL-57 (twice weekly treatment, obtaining of deqi, 10 treatments in total, using electro-acupuncture at most points); 2. identical acupuncture plus co ...

ACUPUNCTURE & KNEE ARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

In a separate Spanish study of the potential benefits of acupuncture in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, 97 patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture plus diclofenac, or placebo acupuncture plus diclofenac. The true acupuncture consisted of needling (followed by electroacupuncture at the local points) at Yanglingquan GB-34, Yinlingquan SP-9, Xiyan (MN-LE-16), Zusanli ST-36 ...

ACUPUNCTURE & KNEE ARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

The longest and largest randomised, controlled phase III clinical trial of acupuncture ever conducted has found that acupuncture can significantly improve the symptoms of arthritis of the knee. The study of 570 patients was carried out at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The patients were randomly assigned to receive 23 treatments of either true or sham (no actual insertion of needle ...

ACUPUNCTURE EFFECTIVE FOR KNEE ARTHRITIS

Categories: Knee

In a study of the treatment of chronic arthritis of the knee, 150 patients were assigned to receive ‘true’ acupuncture, 76 to minimal acupuncture (superficial needling at non-acupuncture points) and 76 to a waiting list control.