Recent research indicates that acupuncture is a popular choice for fibromyalgia patients seeking relief from their symptoms. Fibromyalgia is a distressingly painful condition which afflicts joints and muscles in different regions in the body and often moves around. Response to conventional medication is limited and the moving nature of the condition makes it hard to treat. It is a condition which often becomes worse as time goes on. Patients often seek complementary therapies in addition to biomedical solutions, and acupuncture is revealed to be one of the more beneficial choices.
A patient coming to me for acupuncture for fibromyalgia would receive a full TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) diagnosis and, in my opinion, that is probably why acupuncture is proving successful. The comprehensive nature of a Chinese medicine diagnosis means that all the patient's symptoms are taken into account, not just the pain. This enables an acupuncturist to treat underlying issues as well as symptomatic pain. Interestingly, the researchers from the Department of Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine noted, “We found that acupuncture significantly improved symptoms of fibromyalgia. Symptomatic improvement was not restricted to pain relief and was most significant for fatigue and anxiety.”
Have a look at the article about this research.
There's more about acupuncture and fibromyalgia on my website.
New research looked at 84 patients who had each had at least two failed attempts at IVF. The female patients were divided into three groups, one receiving genuine acupuncture and moxibustion, one receiving sham treatment, and a control group. The success rate (pregnancy) was 35.7% in the genuine acupuncture group, whereas the sham group success rate was only 10.7% and the control group 7.1%. I personally find these differences quite arresting, and particularly interesting, since not many studies have looked at the effect of moxibustion as well as acupuncture.
I use moxibustion quite frequently in treating fertility problems - not invariably because, sometimes, my Chinese medicine analysis indicates that moxibustion would be unhelpful. Moxibustion is a very ancient traditional therapy in Chinese medicine, and involves the use of the herb artemisia argii, or mugwort, applied to acupuncture points, and warmed. This variety of mugwort has energetic properties which are considered to be inherently warming. Usually, external warming is done by smouldering a stick of herbs near the skin, but sometimes by applying a moxa spray or salve to the skin and warming it with a heat lamp. Both forms of moxibustion are usually experienced by patients as very pleasant and relaxing. The research information can be accessed here, in Healthcmi.com, acupuncture news online. More information on acupuncture and moxibustion, and fertility treatment can be found on my website.
