Acupuncture

Evidence, Cost-Effectiveness, and Care Availability for Acupuncture as a Primary, Non-Pharmacologic Method for Pain Relief and Management

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I recently read an article in Science [Science 346 (6216 Suppl) 2014] about the integration of TCM and Western medicine. In response, I would like to propose the following: TCM and Western medicine have different strengths and independent approaches to understanding and explaining health and disease, and therefore, they have the potential to be complementary. They are in no way mutually exclusive. Nobody will argue with the fact that in an emergent life-threatening situation, the best place to be is in a state-of-the-art American hospital. Western medicine excels at saving lives.

In September 2013 a case report I authored was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Chiropractic Medicine on the successful use of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to manage a case of chronic prostatitis with pelvic pain syndrome. This case report is an important contribution to the medical literature because it documents the use of a conservative treatment modality with no side effects to manage a chronic and incurable condition. The typical treatment to manage this condition is the long term use of pain killers.

My second case report was published in the September 2012 Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. The title is “Combination of acupuncture and spinal manipulative therapy: management of a 32-year-old patient with chronic tension-type headache and migraine.”

It documents the complete resolution of daily headaches with superimposed migraines after five treatments. This is noteworthy because this patient had suffered from episodic migraines since she was a teenager.

Continually taking over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can make your headaches worse over a long period of time. The result of NSAID overuse is a rebound headache, which compounds your existing headache.

Celine Dion credits acupuncture for the success of her sixth round of IVF, her healthy pregnancy and the ultimate delivery of twin boys, Eddy and Nelson, in October 2010.

More recently, Mariah Carey proudly announced that she was pregnant and due in the spring of 2011. Her husband notes in an interview on people.com that acupuncture helped Mariah recover from a painful miscarriage and get pregnant naturally.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Menstrual Cycle