Acupuncture helps Joint Pain from Breast Cancer Drugs

Acupuncture helps joint pain from breast cancer drugs. A large American trial has shown that acupuncture can help postmenopausal women with breast cancer, who experience joint pain (arthralgia) as a side-effect of taking aromatase inhibitor drugs eg anastrozole/arimidex. Researchers randomised 226 such women, mean age 61, across 11 academic centres and clinics, to either true acupuncture, sham acupuncture or a waiting list control. Real or sham acupuncture was given twice a week for 6 weeks, then once a week for a further 6 weeks. All patients were followed up for a further 12 weeks.

Compared with the sham acupuncture and waiting list groups, the true acupuncture group at 6 weeks experienced a statistically significant reduction in their worst joint pain: 58% had at least a two-point pain reduction, compared with 33% in the sham group and 31% in the waiting list group. There were also improvements in average pain and joint stiffness in the true acupuncture group. Even at six month follow-up, average worst pain in the true acupuncture group was lower than in the other two groups.

(Effect of Acupuncture vs Sham Acupuncture or Waitlist Control on Joint Pain Related to Aromatase Inhibitors Among Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 10 July 2018.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.