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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

HERBAL MEDICINES FOR DYSMENORRHOEA

Categories: Gynaecological

In a Japanese study, two herbal medicine prescriptions administered alternately within the menstrual cycle were found to have powerful antidysmenorrhoeic effects. The two prescriptions were Shakuyaku-kanzo-to (Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang/Peony & Licorice Decoction) and Toki-shakuyaku-san (Dang Gui Shao Yao San/Tangkuei and Peony powder). All 17 dysmenorrhea patients in the study, including recurrent ...

ACUPUNCTURE & ENDOMETRIAL PAIN

Categories: Gynaecological

A study of 101 women (aged 20 to 40), of whom 83 completed the trial, with laparoscopic-proofed endometriosis, randomised them to one of two groups. The first received specific acupuncture for the condition while the other were treated at non-specific points (points with no relation to the diagnosis). Treatment was given twice weekly for ten weeks. After a two month interval, the two groups change ...

ACUPRESSURE & DYSMENORRHOEA

Categories: Gynaecological

In a study which compared acupressure at Sanyinjiao SP-6 with simple resting for female technical college students in Taiwan suffering from dysmenorrhoea, the acupressure - whether in the form of treatment or self-treatment - was found to significantly reduce pain. (J Adv Nurs. 2004 Nov; 48(4):380-7)

ACUPUNCTURE COST-EFFECTIVE FOR PERIOD PAIN

Categories: Gynaecological

A pragmatic randomised study has evaluated the clinical and economic effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of women with dysmenorrhoea. 201 patients were allocated to receive either up to 15 acupuncture sessions over three months or no acupuncture. Both groups additionally received usual medical care. Outcome measures of pain intensity and quality of life were recorded at baseline and afte ...

CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE BETTER THAN DRUGS FOR DYSMENORRHOEA

Categories: Gynaecological

The evidence supporting the use of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for primary dysmenorrhoea is promising, but better quality research on the subject is still required. These are the conclusions of a systematic review by Australian researchers, which included 39 RCTs involving a total of 3475 women. CHM was found to result in significant improvements in pain relief, overall symptoms and use of addit ...

JAPANESE-STYLE ACUPUNCTURE FOR ADOLESCENT ENDOMETRIOSIS PAIN

Categories: Gynaecological

A US randomised, sham-controlled pilot study has assessed the use of Japanese-style acupuncture for reducing chronic pelvic pain and improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adolescents with endometriosis. Eighteen young women (13-22 years) with laparoscopically-diagnosed endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain were treated with either Japanese style acupuncture or sham acupuncture. P ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND FOOT PAIN

Categories: Foot

A study on 67 patients with medically unresponsive foot pain (despite treatment by such methods as orthotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, analgesics, physical therapy, exercise, local injections of steroids and analgesics and surgery) showed that acupuncture provided complete relief of symptoms in 31 cases and better than 75% relief in 19. The points found to be most effective were ...

ACUPUNCTURE & PLANTAR FASCIITIS

Categories: Foot

Researchers from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center have confirmed that acupuncture is an effective treatment for plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of heel pain. 11 patients who had suffered from plantar fasciitis for at least two months were referred for treatment after conventional methods had failed. Treatment was given to the affected foot once weekly, for a maximum of six trea ...

ACUPUNCTURE EASES HEEL PAIN

Categories: Foot

Acupuncture at Daling P-7 has been found to provide specific relief from the pain of plantar fasciitis. Hong Kong researchers randomly assigned 53 patients to a treatment group that received needling at Daling P-7 (said to have a specific effect on heel pain) or to a control group that received needling at the general analgesic point Hegu L.I.-4. Treatment was administered five times a week for tw ...

ELECTROACUPUNCTURE FOR DENTAL SURGERY PAIN

Categories: Facial

A Brazilian study has concluded that electroacupuncture (EA) is effective at controlling postoperative pain after dental surgery. Twenty-four patients with symmetrically impacted mandibular third molars were selected. Each patient was submitted to two separate surgical procedures under local anesthesia. On one side, extraction was carried out using EA both 24 hours prior to, and immediately after ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND POST-OPERATIVE ORAL SURGERY PAIN

Categories: Facial

In this study carried out at the University of Maryland, patients were randomly assigned to an acupuncture group or a placebo acupuncture group after third molar surgical extractions. The acupuncture group were treated at Hegu L.I.-4, Jiache ST-6, Xiaguan ST-7 and Yifeng SJ-17 on the affected side. The control group subjects were merely tapped in the vicinity of the points, using a needle guide tu ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND FACIAL PAIN

Categories: Facial

A retrospective study of 201 patients treated for facial pain by acupuncture over a 10-year period at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, Scotland, showed that overall 62.7% reported improvement. For those with temperomandibular joint/muscle pain, 46% were cured out of 61% who benefited. For those with trigeminal neuralgia, 62.9% reported improvement. The author, Nazim Merchant, Consultant Oral &am ...

ACUPUNCTURE AND POST-OPERATIVE ORAL SURGERY PAIN

Categories: Facial

In this study carried out at the University of Maryland, patients were randomly assigned to an acupuncture group or a placebo acupuncture group after third molar surgical extractions. The acupuncture group were treated at Hegu L.I.-4, Jiache ST-6, Xiaguan ST-7 and Yifeng SJ-17 on the affected side. The control group subjects were merely tapped in the vicinity of the points, using a needle guide tu ...

Acupuncture helps facial pain

Categories: Fibromyaigia, Facial

Twenty-five patients suffering from orofacial pain (myofascial pain 15, temperomandibular joint synovitis 5, fibromyalgia 2, neuropathic pain 2, trigeminal neuralgia 1) were assessed for pain before and after treatment by acupuncture). All patients were treated at Hegu L.I.-4, with further points needled according to individual presentation. Patients received a mean of 3.8 treatments each. All exp ...

ACUPUNCTURE EASES FACIAL PAIN

Categories: Facial

Pain tolerance in the masticatory muscles of patients suffering from chronic myofascial pain has been found to increase significantly with acupuncture when compared with sham acupuncture. Acupuncture at Hegu L.I.-4 was compared with blunt, non-penetrating sham in 15 chronic myofascial pain subjects who were asked to clench their teeth for two minutes. A statistically significant difference in pain ...

ACUPUNCTURE & LOWER BACK PAIN

Categories: Back

The US Agency for Healthcare Policy & Research and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine have awarded a $1 million grant to study acupuncture as a treatment for chronic lower back pain. The 100-patient study will be carried out collaboratively between the Group Center for Health Studies (the USA's largest consumer-governed healthcare organisation with more than 650,000 ...

ACUPUNCTURE & BACK PAIN

Categories: Back

A German study into the treatment of chronic back pain has compared the benefits of: 1: true acupuncture plus conservative orthopaedic treatment, 2: sham acupuncture plus conservative orthopaedic treatment, 3: conservative orthopaedic treatment alone. The true acupuncture consisted of needling Shenshu BL-23, Weizhong BL-40, Kunlun BL-60, Jingmen GB-25, Huantiao GB-30, Yanglingquan GB-34, and up to ...

ACUPUNCTURE & CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN

Categories: Back

In this German study, 174 patients with chronic low back pain (lasting longer than 6 weeks, and with no pending compensation claims) were randomly assigned to receive either i. True acupuncture plus conservative orthopaedic treatment (COT), ii. Sham acupuncture plus COT, or iii. COT alone. Both acupuncture groups received 3 treatments per week for 4 weeks, and both the patients and an observer wer ...

ACUPUNCTURE & CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN

Categories: Back

In a study into the potential benefits of acupuncture for chronic low back pain in the elderly (over 60 years old), 23 patients were randomised to receive their normal care (NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, paracetamol and back exercises) and 24 to additionally receive bi-weekly electro-acupuncture for 5 weeks. The acupuncture group had a significant decrease in RDQ (Roland Disability Questionnaire) scor ...

ACUPUNCTURE FOR BACK PAIN IN PREGNANCY

Categories: Pregnancy & labour, Back

A Brazilian study which compared the levels of low back and pelvic pain in women treated by acupuncture compared to non-treated controls, found that the acupuncture group showed a greater reduction in overall pain, maximum pain and pain at the time of interview, reduced use of analgesics, and greater capacity to perform general activities, to walk and to work. (Acupuncture in Medicine, 2004 ...