Today I found a posting on ABC Health & Wellbing - Online that explored the use of acupuncture in chronic pain management. I am posting excerpts from that online article below. To read the entire article please Click Here.

Although acupuncture has been practiced for several thousand years, scientists struggle to explain how it works. One theory suggests the needling encourages the release of endorphins natural pain killers produced by the brain) and sets off an inflammatory response that allows the body to heal itself. Another theory is that acupuncture has a powerful effect on the mind, says Cohen, which may also help to activate the body’s pain-relieving mechanisms.

Modern science also has surprisingly little to say on whether acupuncture successfully relieves pain or not. There are some high-quality studies, mainly focusing on the relief of back pain and headache but they are small – so what researchers have done is pool the results.

A 2009 review of 22 existing studies on the prevention of migraine with acupuncture found that people receiving acupuncture had fewer headaches after three to four months than those who received either no treatment or routine drug treatment. Those receiving acupuncture also had fewer undesired consequences, such as drug side-effects. Another review from the same year found that acupuncture also reduces the intensity and frequency of tension-type headaches.

For chronic lower back pain, a 2007 German study of 1162 participants found that the effectiveness of acupuncture after six months was almost twice that of conventional therapy (drugs, physical therapy and exercise). A 2009 American study of 638 people found similar results.

A recent study this year by Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., and others at the University of Michigan’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center has determined that acupuncture increase’s the human brain’s ability to regulate pain. The determination was made using PET scans in a study of 20 women with fibromyalgia. The women used no pain drugs during the study.

Acupuncture increased the binding availability of mu-opoid receptors (MOR) in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals. The increased binding of these receptors was responsible for the reduction in pain. The Research Center states that further study hopes to combine acupuncture and pain killers in a more effective and safer therapy.

To learn more about this topic please check out my News and Research Post from May 2009 titled Chronic Pain Management and Acupuncture.  After going to this link you will need to scroll down the page to that title.

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