You may have come across health care practitioners who perform treatments they call "acupuncture", but who do not have the training nor qualifications of Licensed Acupuncturists.
Sometimes called ‘medical acupuncturists or chiropractors administering acupuncture’, these practitioners are often "certified" after only 100 - 220 hours or less of study, most of which are home study courses. In contrast, Licensed Acupuncturists qualification includes over 3,000 hours of structured study over 3 or more years, the equivalent of a Masters degree.
Patients should be aware of the potential dangers of receiving treatment from healthcare professional’s who are not licensed acupuncturists practitioners. As a Licensed Acupuncturist, I am most concerned about the negative perception of acupuncture and lost confidence of patients who have had a bad experience from 'medical acupuncture' or chiropractors saying they are administering acupuncture when in fact, they are practicing something totally different. Those patients often claim "acupuncture" was painful and had little healing effect. This is unfortunate because, in fact, well-executed acupuncture treatments can have a dramatic positive impact on health.
Some doctors or chiropractors have undergone the full training regiment and truly administer acupuncture. My advise is for patients to know the training of their practitioner and opt for those who will deliver the full benefit of this 2000 year old medicine.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Acupuncture Useful for Side Effects of Cancer Treatments
I have successfully used acupuncture to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy and other allopathic treatments. I've noticed news articles confirming my clinical experience. One such report appeared in the April 17th issue of Head and Neck describes a randomized controlled trial conducted by The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center to determine if radiation-induced xerostomia (dry mouth) secondary to radiation for cancer in the head and neck region can be reversed using acupuncture. "This pilot study demonstrates that acupuncture can improve the subjective symptoms of dry mouth in patients with radiation-induced xerostomia as early as two weeks after starting treatment, and the benefits can remain at least one month after treatment ends," the authors concluded. "Studies to investigate both prevention and treatment of acupuncture for radiation-induced xerostomia as well as other side effects of cancer treatment are greatly needed."
Other allopathic treatment-induced side effects that respond well to acupuncture, in my experience, are nausea, itching, anxiety, sleeplessness, and body pain. Often patients welcome non-pharmaceutical options in their health care regiment.
Other allopathic treatment-induced side effects that respond well to acupuncture, in my experience, are nausea, itching, anxiety, sleeplessness, and body pain. Often patients welcome non-pharmaceutical options in their health care regiment.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Pain after Cancer Surgery
Acupuncture is effective in decreasing pain and depression following surgery in cancer patients.
The findings of the randomized controlled clinical trial are reported in the March 2007 issue of the “Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.”
From UCSF News Office:
“This pilot study confirmed that pain after surgery decreased when patients underwent a combination of massage and acupuncture. This is a significant finding because there are implications for further study to see if these therapies should be offered to hospitalized patients for symptom management,” said Wolf Mehling, MD, lead author and UCSF assistant professor of family and community medicine.
The study compared the post-operative symptoms of pain, nausea and mood and the cost of symptom-related medications in two groups of hospitalized patients during the first three days after cancer-related surgery. One group underwent a combination of massage and acupuncture in addition to usual care, and one group had usual care alone. Usual care is defined as traditional treatment through medication.
Study results showed a greater decrease in both pain and depressive mood in the group that underwent massage/acupuncture therapy along with usual care. The study was conducted at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine.
According to Mehling, 40 percent of people with cancer are treated with complementary and alternative medicine therapies. Although the measurable benefits of these therapies have been promising, there have been no conclusive results, he said.
“The combination of massage and acupuncture for symptom management in perioperative cancer patients has never been studied,” said Mehling. “We know that integration of these therapies has shown short-term benefit on psychological well-being, but there has not been strong evidence to support it until now.”
In the study, cancer surgery was characterized as any surgery related to a diagnosis of malignancy: mastectomy or reconstructive surgery for breast cancer; abdominal surgery for intestinal or hepatic malignancies; pelvic surgery for ovarian, uterine or cervical malignancies; urological surgery for testicular, prostate, bladder or renal malignancies; and head and neck cancer surgery.
During the three-day post-operative period, patients used an 11-point (0-10) numeric rating scale to rank severity of current pain and of pain during the previous 24 hours.
“There was quite a variance when it came to level of pain for each patient. Patients who were very well medicated for pain and nausea still experienced dramatic ups and downs during their post-operative days,” Mehling said. “Getting up from bed for the first time after abdominal surgery or having a catheter removed probably contributed to the patient’s pain rating. For patients who received acupuncture and massage, it is possible that this personal attention contributed to a marked decrease in anxiety.”
Patients received Swedish massage, which involves kneading and applying long strokes to soft tissue and muscles, and an acupressure-type (shiatsu) foot massage for 10-30 minutes depending on their clinical needs and condition. Acupuncture treatment was based on the traditional Chinese medicine standardized core set of acupuncture points and was used to treat pain, nausea and anxiety.
“Pain decreased for those in the intervention group more than for those in the control group,” said Mehling. “Looking at an average pain baseline score, we found 1.1 point improvement in pain level on the first post-operative day for the group given massage and acupuncture, and only 0.1 point improvement in the control group that did not have intervention. Over the three days of the study, the average scores among patients reporting significant pain improved by 1.8 for the massage and acupuncture group compared to 0.3 in the control group.”
The important point here is that relieving pain will relieve stress, which will help overall healing and well-being. Talk to your doctor about using alternatives in the hospital, immediately following operations. You don't have to wait until you are sent home to take control of your own healing process. If your doctor is not open to the idea, please refer him/her to the article about acupuncture and massage in the March 2007 issue of the “Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.”Sunday, January 7, 2007
Hypertension
Hypertension, commonly referred to as "high blood pressure", is a medical condition where the blood pressure is chronically elevated. Persistent hypertension is one of the risk factors for strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, and arterial aneurysm, and is a leading cause of chronic renal failure. Hypertension is often without symptoms. The simplest and easiest way to see if you are at risk or have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked regularly.
Acupuncture is becoming more widely known as an alternative therapy for curbing high blood pressure. It provides an excellent complement to other medical treatments for high blood pressure and other heart-related conditons. During acupuncture, needles are inserted into specific body points to help relieve pain and disease. Studies have shown that acupuncture excites brain cells, causing them to release neurotransmitters that can inhibit or heighten the heart's activity.
When a needle is inserted at specific points, opioid chemicals in the brain that reduce excitatory responses in the cardiovascular system are released. This results in a decrease in heart activity and need for oxygen, which can lower blood pressure and promote the healing of heart-related conditions like myocardial ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the heart) and hypertension.
In the Journal of Applied Physiology from March 2005, researchers from the University of California applied electroacupuncture to sites on the forelimbs of rats. Low frequencies lowered elevated blood pressure rates by 40 percent to 50 percent. A 30-minute treatment was able to reduce blood pressure by 25 mmHg, and the reduction lasted for nearly two hours.Researcher Professor John Longhurst, a specialist in heart medicine at the University’s Irvine campus, said: "This type of electroacupuncture is only effective on elevated blood pressure levels, such as those present in hypertension, and the treatment has no impact on standing blood pressure rates.
"Our goal is to help establish a standard of acupuncture treatment that can benefit everyone who has hypertension and other cardiac ailments."
He added: "This study suggests that acupuncture can be an excellent complement to other medical treatments, especially for those treating the cardiac system. "
Not all research studies on acupuncture and hypertension agree. In my experience, acupuncture depends on proper diagnosis, proper choice of acupuncture points, and proper needle technique. These are difficult factors to control in research studies, and may be why results often differ.
A trained Acupuncturist can recognize the origins of high blood pressure by observing certain symptoms. Headache, dizziness, eye disorders, and numbness suggest a Liver imbalance. Palpitations, poor memory, and insomnia represent Heart distress. And ringing in the ears and accumulation are resultant of Kidney disorder. Control studies prefer to use the same acupuncture points on all test subjects, which is not a proper test for acupuncture.
Conflicting studies are why it is important to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture for yourself. In addition, if one acupuncturist is unable to help, consider trying another who may be better able to help you. In any case, don't give up on your health, or accept the results of a single strategy. There are many health options and you need to find the one that is right for you.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Migraines
Migraine sufferers seem to be especially vulnerable during the holidays. People are indulging more than they might at other times of the year, along with other changes in behavior such as sleep schedules, trawling shopping centers, eating different foods - all key factors in the onset of migraine.
Babylonians were bemoaning migraine as early as 3,000 B.C. and people have experimented with a battery of treatments ever since. Migraine disease affects approximately 30 million Americans, with up to 38 million Americans having migraine genetic propensity. More women have migraines than men since another chief trigger is the menstrual cycle. In the U.S. many people are prescribed a battery of medications, and for many, the headaches always come back.
According to MAGNUM (Migraine Awareness Group: A National Understanding for Migraineurs), migraine is "a neurological, and often times hereditary, disease typically characterized by severe, recurring head pain, usually located on one side of the head and one or more of the following associated symptoms: nausea; vomiting; and increased sensitivity to light, sound and smell. Other associated symptoms may include lightheadedness, diarrhea and scalp tenderness. Migraine symptoms vary for each individual sufferer, making diagnosis -- the key to an effective treatment program -- complicated."
MAGNUM finds that acupuncture can offer relief and a better quality of life, but not everyone is helped by acupuncture. Given the choice, however, even those who may be skeptical of acupuncture are willing to give it a fair test. For chronic migraine sufferers, 12 or more acupuncture sessions are often needed. After acupuncture, many experience less frequent migraines, and they find that acupuncture increases the effectiveness of their migraine medication.
In the research article, "Acupuncture for chronic headache in primary care: large, pragmatic, randomised trial" (Vickers AJ, et al. BMJ Epub 2004 Mar 15.), Andrew J Vickers and fellow researchers determined the effects of acupuncture on patients with chronic headaches, particularly migraines. They randomly allocated patients to receive up to 12 acupuncture treatments over three months or to a control intervention offering usual care. After a year headaches were lower in the acupuncture group than in controls. Patients in the acupuncture group experienced the equivalent of 22 fewer days of headache per year (8 to 38). Compared with controls, patients randomized to acupuncture used 15% less medication, made 25% fewer visits to general practitioners and took 15% fewer days off sick. The researchers concluded that acupuncture leads to persisting, clinically relevant benefits for primary care patients with chronic headache, particularly migraine.
I am encouraged that research is confirming what I have seen demonstrated over and over again in acupuncture clinics, and I hope that migraine sufferers will consult licensed acupuncturists to see if the therapy can work for them.
Babylonians were bemoaning migraine as early as 3,000 B.C. and people have experimented with a battery of treatments ever since. Migraine disease affects approximately 30 million Americans, with up to 38 million Americans having migraine genetic propensity. More women have migraines than men since another chief trigger is the menstrual cycle. In the U.S. many people are prescribed a battery of medications, and for many, the headaches always come back.
According to MAGNUM (Migraine Awareness Group: A National Understanding for Migraineurs), migraine is "a neurological, and often times hereditary, disease typically characterized by severe, recurring head pain, usually located on one side of the head and one or more of the following associated symptoms: nausea; vomiting; and increased sensitivity to light, sound and smell. Other associated symptoms may include lightheadedness, diarrhea and scalp tenderness. Migraine symptoms vary for each individual sufferer, making diagnosis -- the key to an effective treatment program -- complicated."
MAGNUM finds that acupuncture can offer relief and a better quality of life, but not everyone is helped by acupuncture. Given the choice, however, even those who may be skeptical of acupuncture are willing to give it a fair test. For chronic migraine sufferers, 12 or more acupuncture sessions are often needed. After acupuncture, many experience less frequent migraines, and they find that acupuncture increases the effectiveness of their migraine medication.
In the research article, "Acupuncture for chronic headache in primary care: large, pragmatic, randomised trial" (Vickers AJ, et al. BMJ Epub 2004 Mar 15.), Andrew J Vickers and fellow researchers determined the effects of acupuncture on patients with chronic headaches, particularly migraines. They randomly allocated patients to receive up to 12 acupuncture treatments over three months or to a control intervention offering usual care. After a year headaches were lower in the acupuncture group than in controls. Patients in the acupuncture group experienced the equivalent of 22 fewer days of headache per year (8 to 38). Compared with controls, patients randomized to acupuncture used 15% less medication, made 25% fewer visits to general practitioners and took 15% fewer days off sick. The researchers concluded that acupuncture leads to persisting, clinically relevant benefits for primary care patients with chronic headache, particularly migraine.
I am encouraged that research is confirming what I have seen demonstrated over and over again in acupuncture clinics, and I hope that migraine sufferers will consult licensed acupuncturists to see if the therapy can work for them.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Arthritis & Rheumatism
In the November 2006 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism (Vol. 54, pp. 3485-93, 3375-77), the researchers wrote that acupuncture may help reduce the need for patients with arthritis to take anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs have significant side effects for many people, and generally give only short term relief for the chronic pain and inflammation of arthritis and rheumatism.
The reports says that patients who were treated with acupuncture in addition to routine care showed significant improvements in symptoms and quality of life compared with patients who received routine care alone. "The addition of acupuncture to the treatment regimen resulted in a clinically relevant and persistent benefit," the researchers concluded. The improvement in symptoms continued after the treatment had ended.
In 2004, I worked at an elderly day care center in Massachusetts during one of my student clinics and was dismayed by the number of medications prescribed to our clients. Many of my patients expressed frustration with the effort needed to keep track of the dosages, and many experienced side effects, which often resulted in additional medications.
Research shows, and I have witnessed, that acupuncture treatments can reduce or eliminate the need for some medications. It was a joy in my day to hear patients express their personal success whenever their doctors cut back their prescriptions. The doctors themselves were equally pleased, I assume, as they continued to refer patients to our clinic.
It is my hope that anyone who is dissatisfied with relying on drugs for their health will at least try acupuncture as a complementary therapy. As an acupuncturist, I welcome working with western medical doctors in an effort to improve the quality of life for our clients.
The reports says that patients who were treated with acupuncture in addition to routine care showed significant improvements in symptoms and quality of life compared with patients who received routine care alone. "The addition of acupuncture to the treatment regimen resulted in a clinically relevant and persistent benefit," the researchers concluded. The improvement in symptoms continued after the treatment had ended.
In 2004, I worked at an elderly day care center in Massachusetts during one of my student clinics and was dismayed by the number of medications prescribed to our clients. Many of my patients expressed frustration with the effort needed to keep track of the dosages, and many experienced side effects, which often resulted in additional medications.
Research shows, and I have witnessed, that acupuncture treatments can reduce or eliminate the need for some medications. It was a joy in my day to hear patients express their personal success whenever their doctors cut back their prescriptions. The doctors themselves were equally pleased, I assume, as they continued to refer patients to our clinic.
It is my hope that anyone who is dissatisfied with relying on drugs for their health will at least try acupuncture as a complementary therapy. As an acupuncturist, I welcome working with western medical doctors in an effort to improve the quality of life for our clients.
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