Most people wouldn't consider being prodded with needles as a prescription for pain relief. And yet, as more studies in acupuncture demonstrate its benefits over currently accepted medication, the use of alternative medicine is growing in acceptance and practice in the United States.
"I was trepidatious at first," said Heather Jeffreys, a regular patient at Oriental Health Solution on Broad Street in Durham. "I didn't know anything about it," admitted Brian Day, another patient.
In late September a research team at the Duke University Medical Center released a study citing acupuncture as more effective than leading medication in treating patients after breast surgery. The researchers, headed by Tong Gan, an anesthesiology professor at DUMC, found that acupuncture was more successful in reducing nausea, limiting vomiting and decreasing postoperative pain, thus increasing patient satisfaction in recovery.
The study, published in the Journal of Anesthesia and Analgesia, was the first to demonstrate that certain pressure points have pain-killing properties, Gan said. "This had not previously been shown," he added.
Explaining his motives for developing the study, Gan pointed to the fact that about 70 percent of women who undergo major breast surgery suffer from postoperative nausea and vomiting. "And acupuncture has been known to reduce nausea and vomiting [in other cases]," he said.
The study was conducted on 75 breast surgery patients who required anesthesia to be treated for breast augmentation, breast reduction or a mastectomy. The women were divided into three groups, each group receiving a different post-operative treatment. One group received electro-acupuncture, the "acupuncture stimulation group," another was given Ondansetron, the leading medication used to prevent PONV and sold under the trade name Zofran, and the final group, the "sham acupuncture" group, experienced conditions imitating acupuncture, however the stimulation points were not actually stimulated, Gan explained.
After the surgery was performed, PONV and general pain were tracked at 30 minute intervals for the first two hours and then again 24 hours later. Two hours after surgery, 77 percent of the women in the acupuncture stimulation group did not experience PONV, while 64 percent of those taking Ondansetron and 42 percent of the sham acupuncture group did not experience similar PONV. After 24 hours, the numbers decreased to 73 percent for the acupuncture stimulation group, 52 percent for the women taking medication and 38 percent for the sham acupuncture group.
Electro-acupuncture is not an uncommon form of this type of alternative medicine. "Most studies concerning pain are done with electro-acupuncture, while those who do not deal with it use [traditional needle methods]" said Dagmar Ehling, a licensed acupuncturist at the Oriental Health Solution.
"Electrical stimulation provides better stimulation of the pressure points; it provides continuous stimulation," Gan said, describing why he used this method. "It is a fairly easy way to use acupuncture. There are no needles involved, it is more acceptable to patients and it's easy to set it up. You simply place the electrode over the point."
Warning against the theory that more stimulation is automatically more effective, Ehling added, "In oriental medicine, less can be more." In many cases, she said, it is important to use traditional methods and too much stimulation can be harmful.
Acupuncturists say the body's vital energy" chi" flows through the body by way of 14 meridians under the skin. A person is healthy when chi is in balance and unhealthy when there is a blockage that results in too much or too little chi. Applying pressure to some of the 360 specific points along these meridians allows chi to flow normally. In Gan's study, the main point stimulated was P6, the sixth point along the P meridian. It is located two inches below the bottom of the palm and between the two tendons connecting wrist to arm.
"I can feel my energy getting aligned," said Katrina Chamberlin, who regularly uses acupuncture to relieve pain from migraines.
"[Acupuncture] actually directs the healing energy where it needs [to be]. And it is absolutely phenomenal how quickly I healed," said Day, who was suffering from severe back pains. "I was amazingly better after one visit, after the second visit I was leading a pretty normal life, four visits and I am pretty much pain-free."
With about 25,000 non-physician practitioners in 45 states and ?as acupuncture and oriental medicine become better known, we will see a greater increase [in its use]," Ehling said.
"I have already referred three people [to acupuncture]," said Jeffreys, who is using this method as a treatment for infertility. "Even if in the end it does not help me with pregnancy, it does help me with stress."
Chamberlin also pointed to its indirect benefits. "I believe it was the Chinese medicine that could keep up my energy level up so that I could keep going," she said. "It's part of a very broad-based approach to maintaining health."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.