Fibromyalgia is an excruciating condition that disproportionately targets women. It can be difficult to treat, in part due to the challenge of diagnosis and determining root cause. However, according to a recent study, acupuncture is effective in reducing fibromyalgia pain.
Fibromyalgia’s broad symptoms
Fibromyalgia is one of the most frustrating and misdiagnosed pain conditions – because its symptoms are so broad. It involves musculoskeletal pain throughout the body, typically accompanied by low energy, sleep disturbances, forgetfulness, and mood disorders. People who study this condition think that it makes the patient more susceptible to pain because sensitivity is elevated within the brain.
Often people will first experience fibromyalgia following an accident, operation, infection, or other mentally and neurologically taxing experience, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, patients sometimes develop fibromyalgia slowly, in the absence of a specific causal incident.
Not only is fibromyalgia widespread within the body, but it is also widespread in the US population – particularly among women. “Fibromyalgia affects an estimated 5 million Americans, 80-90% of whom are women,” reports Medical News Today.
Does customized acupuncture help patients?
As indicated above, it is easy to misdiagnose and misidentify sources of this disease. That information is critical for treatment, which means it can be difficult to get the proper care. A Spanish study looked at acupuncture as a possible way to achieve fibromyalgia pain relief.
The study was initiated because the vast majority of those who suffer from the malady (9 in 10) use alternative treatments. In fact, 1 out of every 5 people who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia get at least one acupuncture treatment in the first 24 months.
Dr. Teresa Leiva headed a group of researchers to assess customized acupuncture in comparison to sham treatments (in which guide tubes were used without needles). Just over 150 patients were studied.
Every patient was treated weekly for a total of nine weeks. They answered questions about their pain, mood, and all-around experience of the condition on three occasions: immediately after completion of the study, at six months, and at twelve months.
Study’s findings suggest acupuncture works
One week following the study, the patients who received customized acupuncture said their pain levels had gone down 41% (vs. 27% in the sham group). A year following treatment, pain ratings had fallen another 20% (vs. 6%) – totaling a 61% average improvement.
The answers on general quality-of-life were also impressive for customized acupuncture recipients. At the three different checkpoints, “[t]he tailored group reported reductions in the disease’s negative impact of 35%, 25% and 22%,” reports Medical News Today (vs. 24.5%, 11%, and 5%).
Get pain relief
Are you suffering from fibromyalgia? At Atlanta Medical Clinic, our approach combines medical treatments, physical therapy, chiropractic therapy and alternative therapeutic disciplines to provide our patients with the best outcomes and lasting pain relief. Explore computerized acupuncture.