Acupuncture may help to relieve Fibromyalgia pain

by M G Rana, MD.

In the U.S and other Western countries over the past several decades use of acupuncture and other Traditional Chinese Medicine techniques has risen steadily .The first and foremost question mostly asked is, “Does acupuncture hurt?” Surprisingly, The Answer is No, although needles are used in acupuncture, treatments are relatively pain-free.

The National Institute of Health does consider acupuncture to be “generally considered safe when performed by an experienced, well-trained practitioner using sterile needles.  Another therapy shared with treatment seems harmless and effective, professional says.

Everybody who has fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) experiences it differently, which is the main object that confusion often frames the prolonged condition that causes pain and fatigue.

According to the study writers, nine out of 10 patients try some form of different treatment, such as massage or acupuncture, in addition to their fixed pain medicine.

Acupuncture may help ease pain and recover quality of life for individuals with fibromyalgia, a new reading suggests.

Ten weeks after treatment, the pain scores of patients given acupuncture dropped an average of 41 percent, associated with a regular drop of 27 percent for those given a fake acupuncture management. The benefits were still seen after a year.

“Personalized acupuncture is a harmless and good beneficial option for the cure of patients with fibromyalgia,” said lead researcher Dr. Jorge Vas, of the pain treatment unit at Dona Mercedes Main Health Center in Seville, Spain.

Fibromyalgia patients have long-lasting extensive pain, which is related with fatigue, poor sleep patterns and depression. The condition affects up to 5 percent of the inhabitants, Vas said. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of fibromyalgia patients are women.

According to the study authors, nine out of 10 patients try some form of another treatment, such as massage or acupuncture, in addition to their regular pain treatment.

“Both acupuncture and outdated medication have a place in handling fibromyalgia,” said Dr. Alexander Rances, an acupuncturist, pain supervision specialist and attending doctor at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.

“A mixture of Western as well as old-fashioned Chinese medicine maybe offers these patients the best thinkable therapy,” he said.

With acupuncture, very thin needles are injected through the skin at calculated body points to treat pain.

Fibromyalgia treatment typically starts with medicines such as the nerve pain treatment Lyrica (pregabalin), and if that flops or is only fairly effective, doctors might add acupuncture to the mix, Rances said.

Pain feeling is not always related with joint and muscle injury, it can also be because of neurological inequalities. Indications of FMS may also make physical activity tough, but it’s critical to find a way to make trials a part of your daily routine. Exercise is one of the most effective treatments for fibromyalgia.

For people feeling the pain and other indications related with fibromyalgia, the health condition is real, says Shane Steadman, doctor of chiropractic, a chiropractic neurologist at Combined Health Systems in Englewood, Colorado. “It can be connected with headache, nerve pain, and a variety of other symptoms,” Dr. Rubenstein adds. “The pain and fatigue can be severe and devastating.”

For the study, Vas and colleagues randomly gave 153 patients detected with fibromyalgia, separately tailor-made acupuncture or fake acupuncture. Patients had nine weekly treatments, each session lasting 20 minutes.

“Although it was allowed for the applicants to continue with the pharmacological [drug] cure they were taking early, when the study was finished, the patients who received personalized acupuncture were taking less medicine than the group on fake acupuncture,” Vas said.

At 10 weeks, six months and 12 months after treatment, patients were asked about superficial levels of pain and depression and their physical and mental class of life.

One year after cure, acupuncture patients had an average 20 percent drop in their pain score, compared with a little more than 6 percent amongst those who had replicated therapy, the researchers found.

Scores on the Fibromyalgia Influence Questionnaire, which measures how the ailment affects patients’ lives, also varied between groups. Discounts were seen of 35 percent at 10 weeks, and just over 22 percent at one year, for those assumed real acupuncture, compared with 24.5 percent and 5 percent, respectively, for those given fake acupuncture, the researchers said.

In addition, stress pain and the amount of tender points also developed more in patients given real acupuncture after 10 weeks, as did methods of fatigue, anxiety and depression, Vas said.

However, although taking minor pain treatment, acupuncture patients were using advanced levels of antidepressants after one year, which may have preciously increased the positive results, he said.

The report was available online Feb. 15 in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine.

Dr. Allyson Shrikhande is a physiatrist, a doctor who concentrates in physical medication and rehabilitation, at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She approved that antidepressant use could have been an important contributing cause to their persistent development.

Still, Shrikhande said, “the results in this study help determine that acupuncture is a harmless and effective cure for long-lasting pain patients.”

Many patients with fibromyalgia have a central nervous system that is tolerant, meaning a plenty of pain motions are sent to the brain, Shrikhande said.

“Acupuncture can calm the nervous system and help slowly getting down the pain signals to the brain. Acupuncture can also improve blood flow, which can develop oxygenation of tissues,” she said.

Reference:

What is Acupuncture? via Dr Axe

Acupuncture May Help Ease Fibromyalgia Pain, Study Finds via Everyday Health

For support and Discussion join the group “Living with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Illness”

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