Acupuncture- using tiny needles in the skin to relieve pain -really does change the way the brain manages pain, according to University of Michigan researchers. The practice has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years to treat pain. Now, researchers have found that acupuncture alters the way the brain regulates pain. The study suggests that the practice increases the brain’s ability to bind pain-killing drugs.
The researchers used brain scans to determine that acupuncture actually improves the functioning of receptors in the brain that can process and reduce pain signals. Painkillers, such as morphine, codeine and other medications are thought to work by binding to these receptors in the brain and spinal cord.
Dr. Richard E. Harris and his team, who wrote the study, said it could mean that patients with chronic pain could then get more benefit from those drugs.
The study participants included 20 women who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, for at least a year, and experienced pain at least 50 percent of the time. During the study they agreed not to take any new medications for their fibromyalgia pain.
Local registered acupuncturist and osteopath, Paul Clusker, supports these findings. He uses acupuncture to treat a variety of conditions in his Walsall and Sutton Coldfield clinics.
Paul says many of his patients have written to him after their acupuncture treatment to express their gratitude for being helped with a variety of painful complaints which had gradually taken over their lives.
For more information call Paul Clusker at the Backcare and Acupuncture Clinic on 07973908933.
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