Acupuncture arthritis knee ankle pain
Methods for administering acupuncture include: Electro-acupuncture: The most commonly used technique is the insertion of a few electricity-conducting needles to several needles varying from 4 - 10 needles each of which is very small (see dimensions below) through the skin of a person receiving acupuncture. The insertion of each needle almost always cause little discomfort or pain to no pain and no discomfort during the process of the insertion. After cleaning the skin, the needles are inserted into the selected acupuncture points along the meridians overlying muscles and various other tissues but never into the spinal cord, brain, chest, abdomen, various abdominal organs and blood vessels such as vein and artery. After all the needles are in place, a small, minute quantity of direct current usually supplied by a 9-volt battery from a small box stimulator is delivered to the electricity-conducting needles by small electrical cords with alligator clips at one end of each cord to attach to the needle. The patient usually feels the twitching of the muscles as the muscles are electrically stimulated. Some patients may feel different sensations such as warmth at the site being stimulated or adjacent sites to the stimulation sites. After about 5 - 20 minutes of stimulation, the entire contraption is removed from the patient. This is the most pleasant of all the techniques of acupuncture.
Manual Acupuncture: Follows similar insertion technique as electro-acupuncture except that no electrical stimulation is delivered and each needle is manually manipulated like twirling by the hands of the acupuncture practitioner. Twirling can cause pain and discomfort to patient.
Auricular Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into the earlobes and uses the above methods of stimulation. It is reported and shown that there are about 168 acupuncture points on a human ear.
Other methods of acupuncture include scalp-needling in which acupuncture needles are inserted into acupuncture points on the scalp. Face and hand acupuncturists use the acupuncture points on the meridians on the face and hand, respectively.
Other means of delivering stimulation to the acupuncture points include moxibustion - a ball or cigar-like roll of herbs lit to deliver heat to the needle. Cupping is the application of cups heated by a small flame to create a vacuum on the skin when applied to the skin. Bloodletting uses a sharp lancet or needle to bleed a small quantity of blood from the skin. Laser is used to stimulate the acupuncture points on the skin. Magnets, staples or taped metal pellets are placed on the acupuncture points on the body, face, earlobes and tongue of the person. Acu-pressure uses fingers to deeply press on acupuncture points. Application of various types of electrical stimula-tion on the acupuncture points such as TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator). No one knows exactly how acupuncture works. However, some acupoints correspond to areas, called trigger points, that are known to be abundant in nerve endings, and studies show stimulating acupoints causes multiple biologic responses. Such stimulation can prompt a cascade of chemicals in the muscles, spinal cord and brain that releases the body's natural pain-killing endorphins, and can also affect circulation and other body systems. Acupuncture has been described in thousands of writings throughout the centuries. Among the many recent studies are several that show it relieves osteoarthritis symptoms – so well in one Scandinavian study that 25 percent of patients previously scheduled for knee surgery canceled their plans. That same study showed booster treatments once a month sustained the pain relief. Other studies have shown that acupuncture helps relieve pain from fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis; can decrease the number and severity of Raynaud's phenomenon attacks; helps ease conditions that can accompany arthritis such as depression and irritable bowel syndrome; and enhance conventional treatments for gout, when used in a combined therapy.
The downside is this...many studies are not published in English and few acupuncture studies meet rigorous scientific standards. There's enough research to suggest acupuncture relieves pain for some, and that it is safe when performed by a trained professional using sterile or disposable needles. Acupuncture appears to work best on fibromyalgia and soft-tissue pain, and to be least effective for rheumatoid arthritis or other systemic inflammatory conditions. Other advocates believe acupuncture's effects may go beyond temporary pain relief. One thing experts concur on is that acupuncture won't cure arthritis. Acupuncture is generally safe, but as with any therapy – conventional or alternative – you should observe some precautions. • Choose a therapist who is licensed and/or a graduate of a respected school of acupuncture, and who is willing to work with your doctor. Some 10,000 acupuncturists currently practice in the United States and most are regulated by the state in which they reside. About 4,000 doctors have completed a recognized acupuncture training program "Acupuncture treatment had significant and clinically relevant short-term effects," said lead researcher Dr Claudia Witt, deputy administrative director of the Institute of Social Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Economics at the Charite University Medical Centre in Berlin, Germany. For the study, 294 patients with chronic osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly selected to receive either acupuncture or simulated acupuncture, while another group was put on a waiting list. This latter group was used as a "control" group so the researchers could accurately measure the effect of the therapy. Patients were given acupuncture in 12 sessions over eight weeks. Witt's group followed the patients for one year after treatment. "Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who received acupuncture had significantly less pain and better function after eight weeks than patients who received minimal acupuncture or no acupuncture," Witt said. "However, after 26 and 52 weeks, exploratory analysis indicated that the differences between acupuncture and minimal acupuncture were no longer significant," she added. Based on these findings, Witt believes that acupuncture could be an effective alternative to other treatments for osteoarthritis. "Patients who suffer from chronic pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee could try acupuncture treatment to reduce pain and stiffness and improve physical function," she advised. Another study, funded by the National Institutes of Health also showed the promise of acupuncture in arthritis. Findings of the study - the longest and largest random, controlled clinical trial of acupuncture ever conducted - were published in the Dec. 21, 2004, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.
The multi-site study team, including rheumatologists and licensed acupuncturists, enrolled 570 patients, age 50 or older, with osteoarthritis of the knee. The patients had experienced pain in their knee the month before joining the study, but had never had acupuncture.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three treatments: acupuncture, "sham" acupuncture, or the control group, which followed a self-help course for managing their condition. All patients continued to receive standard medical care from their primary physicians, including anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers.
During the course of the study, 190 patients received true acupuncture, and 191 patients received sham acupuncture for 24 treatment sessions over 26 weeks. Sham acupuncture involved use of fake needles that didn't penetrate the skin. The 189 patients in the control group attended six, two-hour group sessions over 12 weeks, based on the Arthritis Foundation's Arthritis Self-Help Course, which has proved effective, according to the NIH.
When they started the study, the patients' pain and knee function were assessed using standard arthritis methods and instruments. Patients' progress was assessed at four, eight, 14 and 26 weeks. By week eight, participants receiving acupuncture were showing a significant decrease in pain, compared with the sham and control groups. Those results held through week 26. Overall, the group that received acupuncture had a 40 percent decrease in pain and a nearly 40 percent improvement in function compared to their initial assessment.
While no specific study looking specifically at ankle arthritis has been published, the findings for knee arthritis seem to be applicable.
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