An Acupuncture Kids Book

Maya and Friends Visit the Acupuncturist

Maya & Friends Visit the Acupuncturist is a book for children explaining acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and following a girl named Maya on a trip to the acupuncturist. While targeted at children, we find that kids from 2 to 92 enjoy the story, and even learn a lot more about Chinese medicine than they knew before.

The book is available from  here.

Acupuncture for Migraine

Acupuncture for Migraine

Functional and structural abnormalities in resting-state brain networks in migraine patients have been confirmed by previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. However, few studies focusing on the neural responses of therapeutic treatment on migraine have been conducted. In this study, we tried to examined the treatment-related effects of standard acupuncture treatment on the right frontoparietal network (RFPN) in migraine patients. A total of 12 migraine without aura (MWoA) patients were recruited to undergo resting-state fMRI scanning and were rescanned after 4 weeks standard acupuncture treatment. Another 12 matched healthy control (HC) subjects underwent once scanning for comparison. We analyzed the functional connectivity of the RFPN between MWoA patients and HC subjects before treatment and that of the MWoA patients before and after treatment. Diffusion tensor images (DTI) data analyzing was also performed to detect fiber-related treatment responses. We observed significantly decreased FC in the RFPN and that the decreased FC could be reversed by acupuncture treatment. The changes of FC in MWoA patients was negatively correlated with the decrease of visual analogue scale (VAS) scores after treatment. This study indicated that acupuncture treatment for MWoA patients was associated with normalizing effects on the intrinsic decreased FC of the RFPN. Our study provided new insights into the treatment-related neural responses in MWoA patients and suggested potential functional pathways for the evaluation of treatment in MWoA patients. Future studies are still in need to confirm the current results and to elucidate the complex neural mechanisms of acupuncture treatment.

Source: Li K, Zhang Y, Ning Y, Zhang H, Liu H, Fu C, Ren Y, Zou Y. The effects of acupuncture treatment on the right frontoparietal network in migraine without aura patients. J Headache Pain. 2015 Dec;16(1):518.

Athletes Like Acupuncture

Blue Jays' Jose Bautista getting acupuncture on sore shoulder

Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista has missed five games with a sore shoulder. He told the media that the injury was improving, and he's hopeful that he'll be able to play in Toronto's upcoming series with Boston.

Bautista's treatment of the injury has included acupuncture on the shoulder, per TSN Radio. He remains day-to-day. 

Source of the report is here.

Acupuncture Supports Pricking-bloodletting Cupping on Acne Vulgaris

Acupuncture Supports Pricking-bloodletting 

Cupping on Acne Vulgaris   

Pricking-bloodletting cupping is a traditional Chinese medicine procedure. It causes bleeding and pain. Xu et al. conducted a study to evaluate the effect on acne vulgaris of pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) under acupuncture anesthesia by stimulating Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi (LI 11). The study enrolled thirty-eight patients and they were randomized into a control group and an intervention group with a single-blind method. The patients in the control group were treated by pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) and the patients in the treatment group were treated by pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) under acupuncture anesthesia at Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi (LI 11). The patients in both groups were treated twice weekly for 6 weeks. The outcome measures included visual analog scale (VAS) and global acne grading system (GAGS). The study showed that there were differences in the VAS scores of pain on pricking and in the pricked area, and the duration of pain between the two groups. The study also demonstrated that after twelve treatments, there was a significant reduction in GAGS scores from baseline in both groups, but there was no significant difference between the groups. This study strongly indicated that acupuncture anesthesia at Hegu (LI 4) and Quchi (LI 11) alleviated the pain of pricking-bloodletting cupping and reduced the duration of pain in the treatment area. The study also demonstrated that pricking-bloodletting cupping at Dazhui (DU 14) improved the skin lesions of patients with moderate acne vulgaris, but acupuncture anesthesia didn’t produce any additional benefit. 

Source: Xu J, Lin R, Wang J, Wu Y, Wang Y, Zhang Y, Xi C, Wu Q. Effect of acupuncture anesthesia on acne vulgaris of pricking-bloodletting cupping: a single-blind randomized clinical trial. J Tradit Chin Med. 2013 Dec;33(6):752-6.

Acupuncture Supports Local Anesthesia

Acupuncture Supports Local Anesthesia

Dental procedures cause pain. Anesthesia is a solution. Injection of anesthetic causes pain. Acupuncture might be a solution. Usichenko et al. from the Department of Anesthesiology and Department of Preventive Dentistry and Pediatric Stomatology, University Medicine of Greifswald, and Department of Pediatrics, Carl Gustav Carus University, Dresden, Germany conducted a study to assess the effect of stimulation of Hegu (LI 4) on patients experiencing acute pain in children who received injection of local anesthetic (LA) for their dental procedures. Children scheduled for dental procedures with local anesthesia received bilateral acupuncture at Hegu (LI 4) using indwelling fixed needles. The children’s parents stimulated the needles by massage during the treatment. This study was to compare two different treatment regimes: a standard LA injection provided five minutes after acupuncture, and an LA injection without acupuncture. The randomization was conducted for the order of treatment, with the two treatments performed in a crossover manner on different days. The primary outcome measure was the pain intensity during LA injection measured by the Verbal Rating Scale or Faces Pain Scale (0-10). Other outcome measures included parent- and dentist-assessed pain intensity and agitation, heart rate, and the patients' satisfaction. The study demonstrated that patients had less pain when acupuncture was used: mean 2.3 (95% CI: 1.5-3.1) versus 3.9 (95% CI: 3.0-4.7); P<0.001. The study also revealed that the patients' heart rate remained low throughout the dental treatment after Hegu (L I4) stimulation compared to no acupuncture group (P<0.05); acupuncture increased satisfaction levels in both the patients and their parents compared to LA injection alone (P<0.05). The study concluded that stimulation of Hegu (LI 4) reduced pain and autonomic distress in children during LA injection in dental procedures. 

Source:  Usichenko TI, Wolters P, Anders EF, Splieth C. Acupuncture Reduces Pain and Autonomic Distress During Injection of Local Anesthetic in Children - A Pragmatic Crossover Investigation. Clin J Pain. 2015 Feb 25.