New study acupuncture helps patients with fibromyalgia against chronic pain

Individualized acupuncture treatment has good effects on fibromyalgia
Acupuncture is a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It helps, for example, with chronic back pain and migraine attacks. A new study found that acupuncture can also improve the quality of life of people with fibromyalgia and relieve their chronic pain.

Acupuncture helps those affected by some diseases. In addition, the benefits of such a treatment usually remain for a long time. Researchers at the Dona Mercedes Primary Health Center have found in a study that acupuncture can even relieve pain in people with fibromyalgia, thus improving the quality of life of sufferers. The researchers published the results of their study in the journal "Acupuncture in Medicine".

Acupuncture treatments have proven effective in many diseases. Recent studies now confirm the positive effects of fibromyalgia. (Image: Björn Wylezich / fotolia.com)

Individualized acupuncture treatments reduce pain levels by 41 percent
The Spanish scientists found in their new study that individualized acupuncture treatments in people with fibromyalgia lead to pain relief. These benefits seemed to persist even one year after treatment. The study compared the effects of acupuncture with those of sham acupuncture. In sham acupuncture a therapist mimics acupuncture without needles, explain the physicians. The subjects in the study all suffered from fibromyalgia, the researchers add. Already ten weeks after the treatment, the pain values ​​of patients sank on average by 41 percent. For the subjects who had only received a simulated acupuncture treatment, the pain value dropped by 27 percent. These benefits were still noticeable after one year, explain the scientists.

Fibromyalgia causes chronic pain, fatigue and can trigger depression
Individualized acupuncture is a safe and good treatment option for the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia, says lead researcher. Jorge Vas from the "Dona Mercedes Primary Health Center". Fibromyalgia patients have chronic pain that is often associated with fatigue, poor sleep habits, and depression. The disease is estimated to affect up to five percent of the population, Dr. Vas. Often women are affected by the disease. For the study had Dr. med. Vas and his colleagues examined about 160 patients with fibromyalgia. The subjects were assigned either an individual acupuncture or a simulated acupuncture. The patients had nine weekly treatments, with each session lasting twenty minutes, the researchers explain. The participants were allowed to continue their pharmacological treatment. Subjects who received personalized acupuncture later on took less medication than the sham acupuncture group, say the physicians.

Medication and psychological techniques have limited success in fibromyalgia
In our clinic there is an individualized acupuncture not only for fibromyalgia patients, but also for patients with various other illnesses, and we can clearly distinguish them from those who undergo a standard acupuncture treatment, explains Dr. med. Vas. Surprising in the study was that the sham acupuncture group noted pain relief, though they were treated with a small tube instead of a nail. Pain relief was maintained for up to ten weeks after treatment, Dr. Vas. Treatments with medications have mixed results in fibromyalgia and they often lead to side effects. The evidence for the effectiveness of psychological techniques is also limited, adds the physician. (As)