Acupuncture for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Acupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome. Researchers in Taiwan have found acupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome is as effective as steroids in mild to moderate cases.

Seventy-seven patients were randomly assigned to receive either prednisolone for four weeks (20mg daily for two weeks then 10mg daily for two weeks), or acupuncture delivered in eight sessions over four weeks. Both groups showed considerable improvement, with no statistically significant difference between the two, but at week four, the acupuncture group showed a significant decrease in night time waking.

(Acupuncture in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: A Randomised Controlled Trial. Clinical Journal of Pain, May 2009.)

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.