Chronic Pain Management

Most people have no idea what it is like to suffer from constant or frequent pain. They don’t understand how debilitating it can be to live with pain every day, or how it can affect every aspect of your life. Those who do spend their lives looking for effective methods of chronic pain management, just so that they can live some semblance of a normal life.

According to Harvard Medical School, however, for about half of 18,000 study patients, acupuncture offered some measure of relief. This suggests for approximately 50 percent of chronic pain sufferers this ancient Chinese treatment may be one way to manage your pain.

What Causes Chronic Pain?

One of the major challenges of chronic pain management for physicians and patients alike is that there are so many different potential causes of pain, each with their own nuances and countless potential treatments. Finding the right combination of therapies can be like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack.

Some of the leading reported causes of chronic pain are:

Lower back pain with various causes.
Headaches, including tension headaches, or migraines.
Arthritis, including osteoarthritis.
Multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases.
Nerve damage (neuropathy) including amputation site pain.

However, while many forms of chronic pain are attributed to these causes, there are other types associated with different conditions. In some cases, chronic pain has no discernable cause at all.

Traditional Treatment of Chronic Pain

Traditionally, treatment of chronic pain addresses both the physical pain itself, and the psychological effects of constant pain on the mind. This means that most traditional treatments include pain killers as well as some form of mood stabilizer or antidepressant.

These traditional treatments have side effects and risks however, which may include:

Liver, kidney and heart disease in patients who routinely take OTC pain relievers such as aspirin and acetaminophen.
Addiction to stronger, opioid or opioid-like pain killers.
Dry mouth.
Sedation (in the case of certain mood stabilizing drugs.)
Ataxia associated with anti convulsants.

Just as there are many causes of chronic pain, there are many potential risks associated with treatment, which, along with proven efficacy, is one of the reasons for the growing popularity of acupuncture for pain management.

Chronic Pain Management with Acupuncture

While it may be less commonly used in some spheres of medicine today, acupuncture for chronic pain management is widely accepted, and for good reason.

Acupuncture remained relatively unknown to the U.S. public until former President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972, where acupuncture as a potentially useful medical modality was noticed by the visiting people from the United States. However, countless studies have measured its effect on pain, whether explained or idiopathic. Most, such as this study in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine, have found up to 81% efficacy rate in the treatment of chronic pain.

The results vary based on the cause of the pain and the type and location of acupuncture treatment provided, but there is no denying that this is an effective element of a successful treatment program for chronic pain management.

Before You Turn to Acupuncture

If you are suffering daily, consider chronic pain management with acupuncture. If the cause of your pain has not been identified, make sure that you rule out any acute or serious causes. Pain can be the result of severe illnesses or injuries, and if these are a factor, they need to be treated urgently. Given the favorable results and studies of recent years, and the long history of acupuncture as a treatment of choice for pain symptoms, there is no reason not to try treating your chronic pain with acupuncture.