WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Health Alert: Acupuncture for chronic pain

Health Alert: Acupuncture for chronic pain

(National) Aug. 18 2004 - Brian Slowinski, like nearly 50 million Americans, suffers from chronic pain, "Oh, agonizing pain. One time I couldn't even move my neck."

Like nearly 40 percent of the population, aspirin no longer helped Brian's chronic pain, so he turned to a more natural therapy.

Dr Ines Berger, MD, says, "Acupuncture has been around for 3000 to 4000 years."

The human body is made up of many pressure points, or meridian lines, of nerves. Small needles are placed in the tense areas. Then the needles are stimulated for 20 minutes through a pulse generator.

Dr Berger says, "The modern theory is that it increases the body's endorphins. The body's endorphins are pain relieving substances." Pain relief can happen so fast some patients feel better by the time the treatment ends.

Berger says acupuncture is used for many symptoms other than pain, "For cancer patients, for pregnancy-related nausea, vomiting, for stress relief and anxiety relief."

And, unless you have a serious fear of needles, it's virtually side effect free. Brian says, "All I have is better feeling shoulder, better feeling beck, a better feeling knee, and that way I can go and play golf."

First time patients are advised to go once a week for four to six weeks to stop the pain. It's important to note, while acupuncture helps some women with nausea during pregnancy, it can also induce early labor in some cases, so always consult your doctor before starting treatment.

posted 10:30am by Chris Rees