Acupuncture for pain

Although acupuncture is effective for a wide variety of conditions, it is mostly widely renown in the United States as a treatment for pain. In general, there are three types of pain patients who walk in the door of an acupuncture clinic:

• Patients with acute pain – This type of pain is typically the result of an injury. A good example would be an ankle sprain. In this case, pain serves as an alarm that signals you to rest and protect the painful area long enough for it to heal. In a way that is not yet understood by science, acupuncture effectively speeds the healing process and often enables patients to comfortably return to their regular activities in less than half the time that would have been required to heal the injury without acupuncture. In an otherwise healthy patient, often only a handful of acupuncture sessions are required to treat an episode of acute pain.
• Patients with pain resulting from overuse – This type of pain is actually a sub-type of acute pain. In this case, there is not a single injury that caused the pain, rather the problem is the result of chronic overuse of a joint, muscle, or region of the body. This overuse is most commonly associated with a person’s occupation — carpal tunnel among administrative assistants, wrist pain among new mothers, shoulder pain among hairstylists, back pain among mechanics. In an ideal world, this type of pain would also serve as a signal from the body to rest and avoid the demands that caused the pain in the first place, but such rest is not possible for many people because avoiding the cause of the pain would mean quitting a job or neglecting other important responsibilities. In cases of overuse-related pain, acupuncture can be very helpful in reducing pain to a much more tolerable level, but in most cases ongoing treatment is required in order to maintain relief.
• Patients with chronic pain – Although many people (including a lot of physicians) don’t realize it, chronic pain is unfortunately an entirely different and much more complicated condition than acute pain. The most current neurological research indicates that when pain persists for an extended period of time it causes irreversible changes to the parts of the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) that transmit and perceive pain signals. Rarely are there simple answers to chronic pain (always be very suspicious of anyone who claims to offer one). The goal of treatment in cases of chronic pain is effective management and improvement of quality of life (as opposed to cure) and this generally requires a multi-pronged approach. Treatments that may be a part of this approach include acupuncture, prescription medication, exercise, meditation, massage, physical therapy, counseling, and/or other modalities.

Quality of life is a critical consideration in patients with chronic pain

Acupuncture can absolutely make a life-changing difference in cases of chronic pain, but in many cases becoming completely and permanently pain-free is an unrealistic goal for the chronic pain patient. I am always up-front with new patients who come to me with chronic pain — acupuncture is not going to be an overnight fix. At least four treatments are generally required in order to assess whether a particular individual will respond to acupuncture and an initial course of 10-12 sessions will likely be required to bring about lasting relief. Some type of maintenance treatment is almost always required — the goal is to arrive at a maintenance schedule that requires visits only every month or two, but this is not always possible (particularly in patients with other major health problems or when chronic pain is very widespread).

Benefits of acupuncture for chronic pain

With patience and persistence, acupuncture can offer chronic pain patients:

• Reduced pain
• Enhanced response to medication (enabling patients to get the same relief from less pain medication)
• Improved sleep
• Relief from depression and/or anxiety
• Elevation and stabilization of mood
• Enhanced energy

All of this adds up to an important improvement in quality of life. Even if a portion of their pain persists despite acupuncture treatment, most individuals with chronic pain find that their ability to live with their pain is dramatically improved when they are sleeping restfully; when their mood is lightened; when they have the energy and focus to return to work, hobbies, and family responsibilities; and when they are able to reduce their reliance on pain medications (and therefore reduce the severity of side effects that typically accompany those medications).

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