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Acupuncture For Fibromyalgia Pain Relief

Table of Contents

What is fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia Is a disorder characterized by
widespread musculoskeletal pain accompanied by fatigue, memory, mood, and sleep
difficulties.
Fibromyalgia is described as an inflammation of the
Fibrous or connective tissues of the body. A great number of people with
fibromyalgia describe the symptoms as such as the aches and pains of a severe
case of the flu. Fibrositis, fibromyalgia, and fibromyositis are names given to
symptoms believed to be caused by the same general issue. Researchers believe
that fibromyalgia amplifies painful sensations by changing the way your brain
processes pain signals.

Symptoms sometimes begin after a bodily injury,
surgery, infection, or significant psychological stress. In other cases,
symptoms gradually accumulate over time without a single triggering event.

Women are more likely to develop fibromyalgia
than are men. A lot of women and men who have fibromyalgia have tension
headaches, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, irritable bowel syndrome,
depression, and nervousness.

While there’s no cure for fibromyalgia, research suggests that Acupuncture can help not just in managing pain, but in helping anxiety and fatigue as well.

How does TCM view fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia is categorized as Ji bi (muscle
impediment) in TCM.
There are three other primary specific patterns in this
syndrome: xu Lao (vacuity taxation/fatigue), yu sheng (depressive
condition/depression), and Shi mian (sleeplessness). Each of these patterns has
a slightly different symptom image based on the origin of the imbalance.

In TCM, the heart of fibromyalgia syndrome is
due to Liver-Spleen disharmony. This routine sits squarely in the middle
of the rest of the patterns associated with fibromyalgia.

You might have heard the expression “meridians.”
In TCM these are now known as jing Luo, the significant longitudinal
distributions and security vessels otherwise called the neurovascular system.
The healthy flow and function of the systems result in good health and vitality. There
are 12 chief pairs that are each associated with different organs each
comprising a yin organ and a yang organ. In this opinion the liver and spleen
are a lot more than just organs; they are a pattern of working in the body
including the physiological range of the distribution which feeds it. For the
time being, in a Liver-Spleen disharmony, this might indicate that the “liver”
is too weak or too strong because of poor diet or repressed anger, or the “spleen”
is weakened from over-worrying or continuing and unrelenting stress.

Everything is reflected in the mind. The distinctive inherent patterns and continuing
additional lifestyle burdens add up and manifest as strange
neurotransmitter/receptor patterns in our brains. Our brains and our bodies
interact like yin and yang, each affecting the other.

Acupuncture treatment for fibromyalgia

Acupuncture
appears to modestly reduce many types of chronic pain,
so it’s not surprising
that many people with fibromyalgia are interested in trying it. A recent Mayo Clinic study on the effectiveness of acupuncture for fibromyalgia symptoms concluded that it may have a beneficial role not just for pain management but also for fatigue and anxiety.

Acupuncture involves the
insertion of very fine needles to various depths into strategic points on your
body. They are usually left in place for 20 to 30 minutes and sometimes are
further stimulated by the addition of heat or electricity. When performed by a
trained practitioner, acupuncture has few risks.

Fibromyalgia can be
difficult to treat, and a combination of treatments may be necessary to control
your symptoms. If you’re having trouble finding relief for your fibromyalgia
pain, it may be worth trying acupuncture.

Your pains can be significantly relieved as early as 3 weeks of
twice a week acupuncture visits. Additionally, Chinese herbs could be an
important part of the improvement procedure. The overall treatment is up to 3 or 4
weeks for a maximum outcome. The goal at the start is to decrease pain. As you
continue the treatments, the relief continues to improve. The accumulated
benefits will enable your body to better self-regulate towards experiencing
less pain by itself. The main reason is that acupuncture educates the body to
help itself. Acupuncture relieves the tension and pain reaction in the brain.
Additionally, it quiets the physiology down toward the normal functioning of the
human body. Because of this, the nervous system can regulate itself more
readily.

Fibromyalgia (fibromyositis syndrome FMS) mostly affects women
between 20-50 years old. It’s chronic, widespread, and acute. The features are
muscle aching, pain, stiffness, insomnia, fatigue, and depression.

FMS is a brain-body dating illness. It can be distinguished from
other chronic muscle-joint pain from the presence of tenderness or pain on a
pressure in at least 11 of 18 specific points within the body. 70-90 percent of
FMS sufferers also have at least one of the following: sleep disturbances,
headaches, swollen feet, numbness and/or tingling, difficulty thinking and
concentrating, sensitivity to light, sound, smells, hypersensitivity to stress,
painful menstruation, and dry mouth.

Studies in Acupuncture for Fibromyalgia

Researchers estimate that the vast majority of fibromyalgia
patients try different treatments to ease their symptoms. The ancient Chinese medicine,
acupuncture, might be one that can help.

A study published in the June edition of 2006, Mayo Clinic
Proceedings revealed that acupuncture can alleviate fatigue and anxiety in
fibromyalgia patients for up to seven weeks following the treatment. This study
was presented at the 11th World Congress on Pain. They concluded that
acupuncture significantly improved symptoms of fibromyalgia.
Symptomatic
improvement wasn’t limited to pain relief and has been significant for anxiety
and fatigue.

David P. Martin, MD, PhD, and Mayo Clinic colleagues
analyzed 50 fibromyalgia patients; half were treated with acupuncture, half
obtained fake treatments. Neither group knew which treatment it was receiving.

The patients got six treatments over a two- to three-week
period. They were questioned about their symptoms immediately after treatment, one month later, after seven months later.

According to their responses to the Fibromyalgia Impact
Questionnaire, a standard instrument in fibromyalgia therapy, the “true”
acupuncture patients had significantly less fatigue and fewer anxiety symptoms
one month after treatment compared to the “fake” acupuncture group. The questionnaire also asks about physical impairment, pain,
stiffness, depression, and how well someone feels or rests. For all
these, there were no differences reported by both groups.

Summary

According to researcher Dr. Martin of Mayo Clinic, “fibromyalgia symptoms likely do
respond to acupuncture, but acupuncture may not work for everyone, nor is
acupuncture a cure for the syndrome. What’s perhaps most significant is that
there are comparatively few to no side effects to acupuncture performed by
qualified experts using contemporary disposable needles –  in stark contrast to some medicines that do
have severe side effects.”

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