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Source: Mayo Clinic
Date: June 13, 2006
Mayo Clinic Study Shows
Acupuncture reduces symptoms associated with fibromyalgia,
according to a Mayo Clinic study.
Fibromyalgia is an arthritis-related
disorder with symptoms of widespread musculoskeletal
pain, joint pain and stiffness, fatigue, and sleep disturbance.
No cure is known and available treatments are only partially
effective.
In the randomized, controlled
Mayo Clinic study, involving 50 FMS patients, symptoms
of the group receiving acupuncture significantly improved
versus the control group. The Mayo Clinic acupuncture
study is one of three studies to have evaluated acupuncture
as a treatment for fibromyalgia.
"The results of
the study convince me there is something more than the
placebo effect to acupuncture," says David Martin,
M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the acupuncture article and
a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist.
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Safe and Effective Treatment For
Pain
Acupuncture is without question one of the most powerful pain-altering
modalities in the world. Its reputation for pain relief is known
and respected internationally.
Don’t Create More Problems for
Yourself
While prescription medications may bring welcome relief from pain,
they can also bring their own set of problems to the human body.
With Vioxx, Bextra, Celebrex, Aleve and
Naprosyn being named in specific consumer health advisories and
warnings to medical physicians to "stop prescribing," millions
of Americans who have relied heavily on these drugs to ease their
pain are now wondering what their future holds, where can they
go, and what can they do to ease their chronic pain.
Traditional Chinese Medicine: One Medical System, Many Treatments
for Pain
There are several acupuncture methods beyond
simply inserting needles. Sometimes a low electrical charge is
sent through the needles and sometimes the needles are heated
with a heat lamp or “moxa
stick,” which is an herbal heat source that looks and burns
like a cigar. Sometimes two needles are used at one trigger point.
Sometimes the needles are twirled or manipulated by hand, and sometimes
needles aren’t used at all, but trigger points are massaged
instead.
Acupuncture Releases Your Body’s
Natural Painkillers
Western medicine’s view is that the placement of acupuncture
needles at specific pain points releases endorphins and opioids,
the body’s natural painkillers, and perhaps immune system
cells as well as neurotransmitters and neurohormones in the brain.
Research has shown that glucose and other bloodstream chemicals
become elevated after acupuncture.
According to the National Institutes of
Health’s National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, there is also
evidence that stimulating acupuncture points enables electromagnetic
signals to be relayed at a greater rate than under normal conditions.
This may increase the flow of healing or pain-killing natural chemicals
to injured areas.
Relief From Pain Brings Faster Healing
When pain is relieved, patients feel a greater
sense of wellbeing physically
and emotionally making it much easier for the body to heal.
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