Stimulated by Yuan et al 2019 and Sun et al 2020.[1,2] Photo by Pavel Nekoranec on Unsplash. This is a statue of Prometheus and the Oceanids.I have added coloured dots over BL32, BL33 and BL35. Rather similar to last week’s blog, I was drawn to the first of these papers by the comparison of techniques alluded to in … Continue reading Sacral needling 2020
Stimulated by Wang et al 2020.[1] Photo by Mi Pham on Unsplash. This paper was published online on the 2nd January. I was drawn to read the abstract because the title mentioned a comparison of EA (electroacupuncture) and MA (manual acupuncture) in spasticity, although MA is referred to in the paper as body acupuncture. The abstract suggested a … Continue reading EA for CP 2020
Stimulated by Hassan et al 2019.[1] Photo by Alexandru G Stavrică on Unsplash.Woman in a field of poppies... another plant-based former-alternative medicine 😉 This is a systematic review that asks the question: Does integrative medicine (IM) reduce prescribed opioid use for chronic pain? Obviously, I needed to look, having recently highlighted a similar topic on … Continue reading Opioids and IM
Stimulated by recent letters in Acupuncture in Medicine.[1–4] Artist is Elihu Vedder (1836–1923). Photographed in 2007 by Carol M. Highsmith (1946–).Minerva is the Roman goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, strategic warfare, commerce weaving and the crafts. Her Greek equivalent is Athena... In the last week or so we have published several letters online, and they … Continue reading Mike’s minerva 1
Stimulated by Dimitrova et al 2019 & Zheng et al 2019.[1,2] Photo by Aliona Gumeniuk on Unsplash. I first came across the acronym QST some years ago in one of the big national or international pain conferences where there are always numerous companies exhibiting extraordinarily expensive pieces of kit. QST devices appeared to be just … Continue reading Sensory testing again
Stimulated by Zhao et al 2019.[1] Photo by Dominik Lange on Unsplash. This paper was published online earlier this week but appeared on my PubMed search this morning. I was planning to write about hemifacial spasm today, highlighting quite a big (n=539) neurosurgical review of MVD (microvascular decompression) from China,[2] but this paper on electroacupuncture … Continue reading Chronic stable angina and point specificity
Stimulated by Abanes et al 2019.[1] Photo by Ian Espinosa on Unsplash. This is a small feasibility study that came out last month. I saw it on my PubMed searches but could not access full text. It was a single arm (n=16) study, so I felt I was not missing too much by not seeing … Continue reading Perceived stress 2019
Stimulated by Sun et al 2019.[1] Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash. Ever since I started reading sham controlled acupuncture trials in the early 90’s I have focussed most on the adequacy of the treatment (probably in a self-referential way) compared with the stimulus strength in the sham. I saw Jorge Vas’s trial in OA knee published in … Continue reading Parameters of dose for acupuncture
Stimulated by Lv et al 2019.[1] My eldest two cherubs demonstrating examination of the knee ;-)One is now an actor - guess which one! The paper that I am highlighting in this piece has two relatively novel features. First, and most interesting is the testing of two different doses of active EA (electroacupuncture) in a … Continue reading Strong EA & CPM in OAK
Stimulated by Lo et al 2019.[1] Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash. This paper caught my eye because I advocate the use of electroacupuncture (EA) in frozen shoulder, but I find it hard to know whether or not I am doing any good. There is little or no controlled trial data in this specific condition, whilst there is … Continue reading EA for frozen shoulder
