Diagnosis
When is acupuncture an appropriate treatment? If you have localized pain, nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy or pregnancy, or are facing surgery and are worried about anesthesia-induced nausea, you may want to ask your health care professional about acupuncture. If you have had little or no success using conventional medicine, you may wish to ask your health care professional whether acupuncture might help. When the risks associated with conventional treatments are great or the outcomes uncertain, you might consider the safer option of acupuncture first. Often, acupuncture can be used effectively as adjunctive therapy to standard therapies.
There are other situations in which research on acupuncture's effectiveness is less convincing, yet still promising:
- Addiction
- Asthma
- carpal tunnel syndrome
- fibromyalgia
- headache
- low back pain
- menstrual cramps
- myofascial pain
- osteoarthritis
- stroke rehabilitation
- tennis elbow
In fact, acupuncture is often used in combination with more conventional approaches for pain relief. Some medical professionals report better results by combining acupuncture and certain conventional pain-killing drugs than from using the drugs alone.
Studies suggest that acupuncture may also help relieve some of the physical problems associated with tension, stress, depression, anxiety and other emotional conditions.
- Gastrointestinal disorders: spasm of the esophagus and cardia, hiccups, gastroptosis, acute and chronic gastritis, gastric hyperacidity, chronic duodenal ulcer, acute and chronic colitis, acute bacterial dysentery, paralytic ileus, spastic colon, constipation and diarrhea.
- Respiratory disorders: sinusitis, rhinitis, sore throat, common cold, acute tonsillitis, bronchitis, asthma and recurrent chest infections.
- euro logical disorders: headaches, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, facial paralysis, facial tics, rib neuritis, frozen shoulder, intercostal neuralgia, sciatica and osteoarthritis, nocturnal enuresis, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, Meniere's syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, paralysis caused by poliomyelitis, paralysis after apoplectic fit.
- Eye disorders: acute conjunctivitis, cataract, myopia and central retinitis.
- Mouth/tooth disorders: toothache, pain after tooth extraction, gingivitis and pharyngitis. urinary, menstrual and reproductive problems.
- orthopedic disorders: tennis elbow, sciatica, low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, tendonitis and neck pain
One advantage of acupuncture is its extremely low incidence of major side effects-especially when compared to conventional medical treatments. A review of nine published surveys, documenting safety and adverse reactions associated with acupuncture, has been reported in the April 2001 issue of the American Journal of Medicine. The most common adverse events were needle pain (one percent to 45 percent) from treatments, tiredness (two percent to 41 percent), and bleeding (0.03 percent to 38 percent). Feelings of faintness and syncope were uncommon, with an incidence of 0 percent to 0.3 percent. Feelings of relaxation were reported by as many as 86 percent of patients. The report concluded that although the incidence of minor adverse events associated with acupuncture may be considerable, serious adverse events are rare.
Finding an Acupuncturist
If you think acupuncture is for you, you may need to find a health care professional, who is open to the possibility; many are skeptical. But there's also a good chance that your health care professional will be able to refer you to a licensed practitioner. Don't be surprised if you are referred to a physician: some neurologists, anesthesiologists and other physicians have training in acupuncture. Referrals for acupuncture from someone you trust are particularly important since state licensing and regulatory guidelines for acupuncturists vary widely.
Traditionally, acupuncture, even more than Western medicine, acknowledges the "art" of medicine. So recommendations from other health care providers, friends, and family can be very helpful.
Check treatment costs and insurance coverage. If your insurance company covers acupuncture treatment, it may have preferred providers or it may require precertification. Your physician or acupuncturist should inform you about the estimated number of treatments and the cost for each one.
The First Visit
During your first visit, the acupuncturist will probably ask about the condition and symptoms that led you to seek acupuncture. Discuss any health conditions you have: This is particularly true with pregnancy. Certain points shouldn't be stimulated during pregnancy-you may risk uterine contractions, premature labor and a possible miscarriage.
Take a list of all the medications you are taking; you will need to share this information with the acupuncturist. For instance, if you are taking anticoagulants (blood-thinning drugs), you are more prone to bleeding (although acupuncture generally doesn't draw blood), and you should warn the acupuncturist. Also let the practitioner know if you have a pacemaker or any other implanted medical device.
The acupuncturist will ask about your medical history, but he or she will probably also ask questions seemingly unrelated to medicine. This holistic approach is typical of many alternative and complementary therapies. It's the person, not only the symptoms and condition, which is being treated. The practitioner may take your pulse, examine your tongue and ears, and touch (palpate) parts of your body.
Ask about the treatment procedures that will be used and their likelihood of success for your condition or disease.
In the
