Acupuncture treatment showed that it could relieve pain
and improve quality of life in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis (LLS). The report
was published in Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies.
Lumbar spinal stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal
in the lower back, known as lumbar area. This usually happens when bone or
tissue-or both-grow in the opening of the spinal canal, caused commonly by
spondylosis or degenerative arthritis. Neurogenic pain of LLS is normally exacerbated
by walking, standing and/or maintaining certain postures and relieved with
sitting or lying. Other symptoms of LLS include sensory loss and weakness of
legs, reflecting involvement of spinal nerve roots within lumbar spinal canal. Although
medication is effective in relieving symptoms temporarily and surgical
procedures will improve the conditions in some cases, none of the treatments is
curative.
Dr. MJ Hadianfard and colleagues in Iran conducted a
clinical study to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture on patients with LLS.
Twenty-four patients with LLS were recruited for the study and were given acupuncture
on following acupoints: bilateral BL-23, BL-25, BL-26, BL-37, BL-40, BL-54,
BL-57, LI-4, BL-60, DU-3, DU-4, and DU-20 for 30 minutes per session, three
sessions a week and 10 sessions in total. The visual analogue scale (VAS) and
Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) were monitored for pain and quality of life
before treatment, immediate after final treatment and 6-week follow-up. Patients
did not receive other treatments during the course of acupuncture treatment.
It was shown that acupuncture treatment significantly
improved pain and quality of life such as emotions, vitality, general health,
bodily pain, and physical well-being not only immediate after final treatment
and but maintained 6-week after treatment. There was no adverse effect reported.
The study demonstrated that acupuncture was able to relieve
pain and improve the quality of life of patients with LLS.
Reference:
Hadianfard MJ et al.,
Effect of Acupuncture on Pain and Quality of Life in Patients with Lumbar
Spinal Stenosis: A Case Series Study. J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2016
Aug;9(4):178-82. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27555222
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