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ME/CFS South Australia Inc supports the needs of sufferers of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and related illnesses. We do this by providing services and information to members.
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ME/CFS South Australia Inc aims to keep members informed of various research projects, diets, medications, therapies, news items, etc. All communication, both verbal and written, is merely to disseminate information and not to make recommendations or directives.
Unless otherwise stated, the views expressed on this Web site are not necessarily the official views of the Society or its Committee and are not simply an endorsement of products or services.
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Acupuncture Can Relieve Fibromyalgia Pain, If It's Tailored Per Patient
Monday 29 February 2016
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Acupuncture Can Relieve Fibromyalgia Pain, If It's Tailored Per Patient
The benefits of acupuncture for fibromyalgia pain remain inconclusive despite extended research. However, a new study may have found the factor that separates successes from failure.
It was just recently that a study conducted in Brazil concluded that acupuncture does not reduce pain in women with fibromyalgia. However, like many other studies, this one looked at the effects of standard acupuncture treatment. A new analysis by researchers in Spain found that the therapy does alleviate pain – when it’s individualized for each patient.
The cohort included 153 patients with fibromyalgia who were at least 18 years old. The participants were randomly assigned to either receive individualized acupuncture or simulated “fake” acupuncture. Each treatment consisted of one 20-minute session per week for 10 weeks, and they also used pain medication.
Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) scores were reported at 10 weeks, six months, and 12 months following treatment. There were significant pain reduction differences between the individualized and sham treatment groups at all three points: 35% vs. 24.5%, 25% vs. 11%, and 22% vs. 5%, respectively.
In addition, pressure pain threshold and tender points significantly improved in the real individualized acupuncture group after just 10 weeks. Measures of fatigue, anxiety, and depression also improved with the treatment, according to the report.
“This treatment produced an improvement in the participants’ condition, reflected by a reduction in pain intensity and enhanced functional capacity and quality of life after the intervention and during the follow up period,” the authors summed up in Acupuncture in Medicine. Side effects were mild and not common.
At the one-year follow-up period, patients who had the real acupuncture were still reaping more benefits of pain reduction when compared to the simulated acupuncture. However, the researchers warn that many patients were using high dose antidepressants at this time so that could have played a part in the positive results.
Previous studies have not observed these kinds of outcomes because they focused on standardized acupuncture as opposed to individualized treatment.
The full article can be found here.
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