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17 N. Wabash Ave. Ste 678 Chicago, IL 60602

Acupuncture for Neck Pain

Acupuncture Can Be an Effective Way to Improve Neck Pain

Acupuncture and massage therapy can be used for treating back and neck pain. But which solution is more effective? One study recently came out favoring massage therapy while another study found that acupuncture was more effective. It may be best for patients to let their personal preference be the guide to determine how they treat their pain.

Dominik Irnich, MD is the author of a recent study regarding acupuncture and neck pain. In the study, Irnich noted that acupuncture is widespread throughout the world. He added that Western medicine can be beneficial and successfully in treating certain conditions. However with some chronic conditions, Western medicine treatments do not have high success rates. Irnich added that in these cases, Eastern medicine methods should be considered. The study found acupuncture to be more effective in treating chronic neck pain than massage therapy. Irnich is an anesthesiologist specializing in pain therapy at the University of Munich and the German Medical Acupuncture Association.

During the study, Irnich and his colleagues treated 177 people who were suffering from chronic neck pain. The study included three treatment groups using acupuncture, massage therapy and 'sham' laser acupuncture. The participants who received the sham laser treatment were told that strategic laser light was being targeted on specific acupuncture points in the body. In reality, however, the laser light had no value. The sham laser treatment was performed to help control the possibility that the idea alone of receiving acupuncture may affect the results. This concept is known as the placebo effect.

After one week and administering five treatments, the participants treated with acupuncture had a more significant improvement in motion related neck pain compared to those treated with massage but not compared with those given sham laser. Unfortunately, the differences between the three groups were fairly minimal. After three months of follow up, the three groups did not report any difference in terms of neck mobility or pain.

Is it fair to conclude that acupuncture is more effective than massage for treating neck pain? A study published in the April 23, 2001 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine found that massage therapy was more effective than acupuncture for treating back pain.

Mike Cummings, the medical director of the British Medical Acupuncture Society in London, is an expert in the area and wrote a commentary regarding the neck pain study. Cummings shared that a major challenge with acupuncture research is in teasing the placebo effect. In the previously mentioned neck pain study, the sham laser treatment was used to control for the idea of having acupuncture on neck pain. Unfortunately, the experience of having a light targeted on various areas of your neck and having needles stuck into these areas is not the same.

Ultimately, Cummings does not believe that there is clear evidence which favors acupuncture or massage therapy in the treatment of neck and back pain. In conclusion, people should use whichever therapy they prefer.

Cummings suggests acupuncture as a better treatment option for patients who are looking for a quick response. But for people who do not like needles, it may wise to use massage therapy. Acupuncture and massage therapy are essentially the same type treatment where pressure is used to provide pain relief. Acupuncture provides an intense and focused pressure targeted inside the muscles. Alternatively, massage therapy isn’t able to provide the same level of intense pressure.

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Sunae Son, L.Ac, M.S.O.M. has spent much of her life exploring and researching western and eastern medicines, combining these practices over a decade of field and laboratory studies into mindful patient care in acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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