Tag: acupuncture pain relief
Icing of little use for sore muscles
It’s about time! This discussion has been going on for decades. Finally someone has done some animal studies. Ice for Sore Muscles? Think Again. Icing muscles after strenuous exercise is not just ineffective, it could be counterproductive, a new study in mice suggests.
Read MoreTreating Pain with Acupuncture in Alternative Medicine
“I can’t see a better solution to long-term chronic pain. There is no question in my mind that acupuncture is safer than surgery or drugs.”* – Dr Bruce Pomeranz, Neurosurgeon, University of Toronto *results, as with all aspects of medicine, vary from patient to patient No one should have to live with pain. But deciding…
Read MoreHeart Rate Variability in Fibromyalgia Patients
I have treated fibromyalgia patients over the years, and the condition is of intense interest in the Acupuncture Research Community. This article indicates that autonomic dysfunction plays a part in the disease. Front Physiol. 2018 Aug 17;9:1118. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01118. eCollection 2018. Multifractal Analysis Reveals Decreased Non-linearity and Stronger Anticorrelations in Heart Period Fluctuations of Fibromyalgia…
Read MoreTaVNS and HRV: Case Study Pa.Co. edition
As another chapter in the story of TAVNS (Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation) in the clinic, this patient seems to have the opposite effect from the previous patient. Obviously, there is a lot of “noise” in the system, but he seems to have lower stress levels during treatment when TaVNS is added. I have yet…
Read MoreElectroacupuncture Helps Alcohol Withdrawal in Mice
This article contains a few things I did not know. The most basic one is that EtOh withdrawal leads to hypersensitivity to pain. This suggests all sorts of different strategies to alleviate alcohol withdrawal symptoms. In this study, they induced alcohol dependence and compared pain tolerance in Etoh withdrawal mice to Etoh naive mice and…
Read MoreBrain Scans Show Real Effect of Acupuncture
A report from The Guardian discussing recent findings showing that acupuncture works in a way distinct from any placebo. “Placebo acupuncture can ease short-term pain but the real thing might help to reverse the underlying pathology of a disease.” ” “I was completely floored,” he says. Whatever the acupuncture was doing, it wasn’t working as…
Read MoreMelatonin and Migraine
I recommend Melatonin and Magnesium as safe options for migraine prevention. This article looks at one possible mechanism for melatonin’s effectiveness in menstrual migraine. The dosage of melatonin needs to be adjusted since too much (even above 3 mg in many people) can lead to paradoxical wakefulness or morning drowsiness. As much as 1/2 mg…
Read MoreElectroacupuncture at GB20 Relieves Migraine and Lowers CGRP in Animals
I was not aware that migraine sufferers had cutaneous allodynia. That may account for the exaggerated autonomic response to needling I’ve noticed in the clinic. Neural Regen Res. 2017 May;12(5):804-811. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.206652. Electroacupuncture at Fengchi (GB20) inhibits calcitonin gene-related peptide expression in the trigeminovascular system of a rat model of migraine. Zhao LP1,2, Liu L1,…
Read MoreIntraoperative Low-frequency Electroacupuncture under General Anesthesia Improves Postoperative Recovery in a Randomized Trial.
More like this please. This is a useful study because it does away with the problem of placebo, has quantified results. It also emphasizes the hard to prove, but real preventative effect of acupuncture on the stress response. Shown in animals here. It also combines my previous profession (Anesthesiology) and my current one. Nicely done!…
Read MoreMigraine and Acupuncture and HRV: Jo.Ru edition
I’ve been treating a young, male patient with intractable migraines. He has had them for years, and stopped taking medications years ago because though they might work in the short run, they weren’t fixing the problem. He does his best to avoid triggers, but they are a constant in his life. This patient is…
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