Acupuncture for Pain Treatment

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a therapeutic system comparable to allopathic medicine. Its most known application concerns with pain control and that is why it is mostly performed by anesthesiologists, pain therapists or pure acupuncturists. Acupuncture has great and wide potential: treatment of acute low back pain, intra-operative electro-analgesia and other therapeutic indications well recognized by WHO. Acupuncture points can be rubbed down, warmed up, electrically stimulated or simply hit. Their existence is scientifically proven. Acupuncture can be used in daily clinical practice: its efficacy as anti-emetic or preventive treatment for nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy, chemotherapy and individual sensitivity is well proven. Acupuncture can support medical therapy in the first approach to chronic pain and in the second step it can completely replace pharmacological therapy. Although the number of treated patients is smaller, acupuncture seems to be similar to pharmacological therapy with regard to postoperative pain control. © Monzani et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.