Acunpuncture needles out low back pain
Science Daily - Six months of acupuncture treatment appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating low back pain, according to a study in the Sept. 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, although the study suggests that both sham acupuncture and traditional Chinese verum acupuncture appear to be effective in treating low back pain.
“Low back pain is a common, impairing and disabling condition, often long-term, with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 70 percent to 85 percent,” the authors write as background information in the article. “It is the second most common pain for which physician treatment is sought and a major reason for absenteeism and disability.” Acupuncture is increasingly used as an alternative therapy, but its value as a treatment for low back pain is still controversial.
Michael Haake, Ph.D., M.D., of the University of Regensburg, Bad Abbach, Germany, and colleagues conducted a randomized clinical trial involving 1,162 patients (average age 50) who had experienced chronic low back pain for an average of eight years.
Patients underwent ten 30-minute sessions (approximately two sessions per week) of verum acupuncture (387 patients), sham acupuncture (387 patients) or conventional therapy (388 patients). Verum acupunture consisted of needling fixed points and additional points to a depth of 5 millimeters to 40 millimeters based on traditional Chinese medicine, while sham acupuncture consisted of inserting needles superficially (1 millimeter to 3 millimeters) into the lower back avoiding all known verum points or meridians.
Conventional therapy consisted of a combination of medication, physical therapy and exercise. Five additional sessions were offered to those who had a partial response to treatment (10% to 50% pain reduction).
“A total of 13,475 treatment sessions were conducted (verum acupuncture, 4,821; sham acupuncture, 4,590; conventional therapy, 4,064),” the authors write. Patients receiving the additional five sessions were 232 (59.9%) in the verum group, 209 (54.3%) in the sham group and 192 (52.5%) in the conventional group.
Response rate was defined as a 33% improvement in pain or a 12 percent improvement in functional ability. “At six months, response rate was 47.6% in the verum acupuncture group, 44.2% in the sham acupuncture group and 27.4% in the conventional therapy group,” the authors note. “Differences among groups were as follows: verum vs. sham, 3.4%; verum vs. conventional therapy, 20.2%; and sham vs. conventional therapy, 16.8%.”
“The superiority of both forms of acupuncture suggests a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain generation, transmission of pain signals or processing of pain signals by the central nervous system and that is stronger than the action mechanism of conventional therapy,” the authors conclude. “Acupuncture gives physicians a promising and effective treatment option for chronic low back pain, with few adverse effects or contraindications. The improvements in all primary and secondary outcome measures were significant and lasted long after completion of treatment.”
[Arch Intern Med. 2007;167(17):1892-1898]
Tags: acupuncture, low back pain
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[...] Susanna Ng wrote a fantastic post today on “Acunpuncture better in treating low back pain”Here’s ONLY a quick extractScience Daily - Six months of acupuncture treatment appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating low back pain, according to a study in the Sept. 24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives … [...]
Dear readers,
We agree that the study conducted by Haake et al. (1) is indeed an interesting one. Their findings are promising and in line with previous publications on this topic. Moreover, acupuncture care for low back pain seems to be cost effective (2). Haake et al. (1) have used a strict methodology (3), making this a good scientific study. In our point of view, this is the way to go…
All the best,
Maurits van den Noort & Peggy Bosch
(1) Haake, M., Müller, H-H., Schade-Brittinger, C., Basler, H.D., Schäfer, H. Maier, C., Endres, H.G., Trampisch, H.J., & Molsberger, A. (2007). German acupuncture trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: Randomized, multicenter, blinded, parallel-group trial with 3 groups. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167(17), 1892-1898.
(2) Ratcliffe, J., Thomas, K.J., MacPherson, H., & Brazier, J. (2006). A randomised controlled trial of acupuncture care for persistent low back pain: Cost effectiveness analysis. British Medical Journal, 333(7569), 626-628.
(3) Bosch, M.P.C., & Van den Noort, M.W.M.L. (to appear). Schizophrenia, Sleep, and Acupuncture. Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber.
If you are one of the many people that suffer with back pain then you will know what little relief there is from this condition; for most people, their only concern is to receive back pain relief medication to dull the pain. While there are a host of prescription medications that help with pain relief, many are doing nothing more than masking the symptoms instead of tackling the underlying cause of the pain. Long term medication of pain killers is something that should be supervised as other problems can occur because of their continued use.
Back pain is often caused by muscle strain and repeated strenuous exercises; it is not uncommon for a person to cause permanent damage from just lifting something incorrectly. The most common way to injure your back though is by lifting badly, it is usually recognized immediately by a sharp pain at the base of the spine. There are a number of natural back pain relief methods that mean you will not have to rely on drugs.
Stretching the back is often the simplest method of relief, stretching your back gently can relax your back muscles preventing them from becoming tense. Reflexology, an ancient type of alternative medical treatment, uses the concept that areas of the body have corresponding regions on the feet that can benefit from massage; it has found to be successful at treating people with long term conditions. Reflexology can also help to improve the body’s blood circulation and relax muscles.
Although acupuncture is an age old Chinese medical practice that has been used for thousands of years, it is only recently that the Western world has accepted it as an alternative form of back pain relief. Followers of traditional Chinese medicine are of the belief that every person has an inner energy force (chi) that reflects of our state of health, mental and physical. Although the chi can become blocked, it can be released by using thin needles inserted into various points on the body. Like reflexology, acupuncture seems to be used by people who suffer with chronic conditions like back pain which requires relief.
Another ancient oriental discipline, Tai Chi is similar to many types of Yoga but the movements are much slower and deliberate. Tai Chi focuses on breathing techniques and is a great way to relax your back. Whilst it involves some stretching and breathing exercises it is not too strenuous which means that anyone, young or old can take part in Tai Chi. Regular exercise is also one of the best preventative medicines available and can help with back pain relief; by exercising regularly there is less chance of a back pain attack.