Acupuncture for Chronic Pain in US Medicaid Scheme

Acupuncture for chronic pain. Research commissioned by the US State of Vermont shows that acupuncture is effective for chronic pain and offers a wide array of other benefits, for patients on low incomes and treated under the government-funded Medicaid scheme. Previous studies have shown that this population is hampered in its access to non-pharmacological treatments, by lack of health insurance. In a pragmatic randomised trial, Medicaid patients with chronic pain were offered up to 12 acupuncture sessions over a 60 day period. This resulted in 156 patients (111 women & 45 men) receiving an average 8.2 treatments.

– There were significant improvements in pain intensity, pain interference, physical function, fatigue, anxiety, depression, sleep and social isolation.
– 57% of patients using non-opioid analgesics reported reductions in use.
– 32% of patients using opioid analgesics reported reductions in use.
– 74% of employed patients reported improved capacity to work.
– 96% of patients would recommend acupuncture to others with chronic pain.

(Acupuncture for Chronic Pain in the Vermont Medicaid Population: A Prospective, Pragmatic Intervention Trial. Global Advances in Health & Medicine, April 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.