Category: Musculoskeletal Conditions

Researchers at the University Medical School and Research Hospital in Ankara, Turkey have found that acupuncture given to patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, reduces symptom severity as well as swelling of the median nerve. A total of 45 arms belonging to 27 female patients, were randomly allocated to either an acupuncture or control group. All patients used a wrist splint at night. In addition, the acupuncture group received treatment two to three times a week for four weeks, giving ten sessions in total.

Symptom severity, hand function and electromyographic measurements improved in both groups, but the acupuncture group exhibited significantly higher improvements. Further, the cross-sectional area of the median nerve, which can increase due to swelling, significantly decreased in the acupuncture group; there was no change in the control group.

(The Acupuncture Effect on Median Nerve Morphology in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: An Ultrasonographic Study. Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 6 June 2017.)

A randomised controlled trial undertaken by researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, shows that acupuncture at sights distant to the affected area can bring immediate pain relief to patients with frozen shoulder. Its addition to the usual conservative care regime, also results in shorter recovery times.

Sixty patients with the condition were assigned to receive either shallow “press tack” acupuncture or sham treatment. An immediate improvement in pain score of 3.3 points was seen in the treated group, compared with 1.6 points in the sham group. The participants were then offered standard acupuncture and 34 accepted ten treatments over ten weeks, in addition to usual conservative care. A further 13 patients received usual care alone. The acupuncture group exhibited significantly improved pain scores within 15 weeks; the corresponding time for the usual care group was 30 weeks.

(Immediate Pain Relief in Adhesive Capsulitis by Acupuncture – A Randomized Controlled Double-Blinded Study. Pain Medicine, 20 March 2017.)

A survey of over 89 000 patients undergoing acupuncture treatment for musculoskeletal pain, has found that 93% of them report that their acupuncturist was successful in treating their primary complaint. Most of these patients had experienced chronic pain over many years, and had sought out an acupuncturist as a last resort, so they were unlikely to have improved spontaneously.

Additionally, 99% of patients rated the quality of care and service they received as good to excellent, thus exceeding national benchmark averages for conventional care providers. Patients also reported high levels of willingness to recommend others to their individual practitioners. The results came from a validated US Department of Health survey tool. Only 0.014% of patients reported a minor adverse event, and no serious ones were documented.

(Acupuncture: Does Acupuncture Provided Within a Managed Care Setting Meet Patient Expectations and Quality Outcomes? A 2-Year Retroactive Study of 89,000 Managed Network Patients. American Specialty Health Incorporated Health Services Department.)

Research in Germany suggests that acupuncture reduces the pain of osteoporosis, with sustained and clinically relevant results being observed. In a controlled trial, 53 patients were randomised to receive ten sessions of either acupuncture or a sham control over a period of five weeks. The patients all had pain associated with spinal compression fractures and osteoporosis-related deformities. Pain scores and quality of life measures were recorded at the start of the trial, before each treatment, and again at three month follow-up.

Both acupuncture and control treatments significantly reduced activity-related pain and pain at rest over time. However the true acupuncture group recorded a significantly greater reduction in mean pain intensity at rest compared with the control group. The true acupuncture group also experienced continuous and significant improvements in quality of life for up to three months after treatment had ended. By contrast, patients in the control group experienced only temporary quality of life improvements, and these declined slightly by the end of the three month follow-up period.

(Effects of acupuncture on quality of life and pain in patients with osteoporosis – a pilot randomized controlled trial. Archives of Osteoporosis, December 2016.)

A systematic review by a team of New Zealand-based authors, supports the ability of acupuncture to alter pain-related functional connectivity in the brains of patients with musculoskeletal pain. Seven studies met the team’s inclusion criteria. All of them showed that acupuncture resulted in important changes to activation of brain areas which show abnormal connectivity in patients with chronic pain. The restoration of normal connectivity is associated with pain reduction. The studies looked at 191 patients with four conditions: osteoarthritis, chronic lower back pain, fibromyalgia and carpal tunnel syndrome.

The authors conclude that these seven studies support the theory that acupuncture can alter pain-related functional connectivity in the brain. The main implications for clinical practice are that acupuncture is proven to cause important changes in chronic pain states and that acupuncture efficacy is achieved by long-term intervention.

(Does Acupuncture Alter Pain-related Functional Connectivity of the Central Nervous System? A Systematic Review. Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies, August 2016.)