HAD ENOUGH OF BACK PAIN?
BACK PAIN, ACUPUNCTURE CAN HELP
Lumbar pain is the medical term for lower back pain, in the region of the lumbar vertebrae. It is a very common condition and is generally not serious. Over 80% of people will suffer from lumbar pain at some point¹ and the prevalence of this condition is constantly increasing. Although it can occur at any age, lower back pain most often affects adolescents and people around age 45. ²
Lumbar pain is the most frequent form of back pain. The lumbar vertebrae are continually required to support a major portion of our body weight, making it a fragile region. Non-specific benign lumbar pain occurs in 90% of cases. It can be classified as acute, subacute or chronic. Acupuncture is especially effective in treating chronic and benign lumbar pain, and may be an important adjunct treatment for subacute and acute forms. Acupuncture provides relief for subacute and acute lumbar pain, and is a gentler treatment than analgesic drugs. All types of lumbar pain occur most often in pregnant women, seniors, people who lift heavy loads and, of course, athletes.
Acupuncture is increasingly used to alleviate all types of pain. It stimulates the production of endorphins, substances that have calming and analgesic properties. In 2005, a meta-analysis of 22 randomized clinical trials compared the effect of acupuncture with other treatment or placebos.³ The study revealed that acupuncture was as effective at relieving chronic lumbar pain as the treatments normally used. A scientific literature review published in 2010 and based on four randomized trials also reached the same conclusion. ⁴
MECHANISM OF ACTION
Two main mechanisms of action explain how acupuncture effectively treats pain. The first is the gate control system phenomenon proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965, according to which the insertion of a needle into a specific point activates certain sensory neurons that modulate pain. Based on this principle, the same neuron prevents the pain signal from being transmitted to another neuron present in the spinal cord, thereby decreasing or even eliminating the sensation of pain.
The second mechanism of action following the insertion of an acupuncture needle involves the release and peripheral stimulation of endogenous opioid peptides, which control the nociceptive signal. Acupuncture’s analgesic effect is based on this principle of endorphin release.
ACUPUNCTURE: AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT FOR LUMBAR PAIN
September 11, 2006 – Do you have low back pain? To treat it, you should use acupuncture as a complement to classical treatments. That is what German researchers who conducted a large-scale clinical trial⁶ involving no less than 11,600 subjects proposed.
More than 1500 study participants were randomly assigned acupuncture treatments, while an equivalent number made up the control group. The 8500 others were treated with acupuncture, but in non-randomized fashion. They underwent a few sessions of acupuncture (e.g. fewer than five, five to ten or more than ten, depending on the case) for a three-month period.
A NOTABLE IMPROVEMENT
To determine whether the treatments were effective, the data had to show at least a 20% improvement in lumbar function and a proportional decrease in lumbar pain.
After three months, nearly 53% of participants who received acupuncture (randomized or not) responded positively to the treatment, versus 27% of those in the control group. Six months after treatment began, a comparable percentage of participants continued to feel the benefits.
The authors of the study do not hesitate to recommend that acupuncture be incorporated into a treatment plan aimed at relieving lower back pain.
References taken from PasseportSanté.net
1. Measuring the global burden of low back pain. Hoy D, March L, Brooks P, et al. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2010 Apr;24(2):155-65. Review.
2. Diagnosis and treatment of low back pain: a joint clinical practice guideline from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society. Chou R, Qaseem A, Snow V, Casey D, et al.; Clinical Efficacy Assessment Subcommittee of the American College of Physicians; American College of Physicians; American Pain Society Low Back Pain Guidelines Panel. Ann Intern Med. 2007 Oct 2;147(7):478-91.
3. Manheimer E, White A, et al. Meta-analysis: acupuncture for low back pain. Ann Intern Med. Apr 19 2005;142(8):651-663.
4. Acupuncture therapy for chronic lower back pain: a systematic review. Trigkilidas D. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 2010 Oct;92(7):595-8. Epub 2010 Jun 7. Review.
5. https://www.meridiens.org/acuMoxi/congresMarseille2003_fichiers/dossierpresse.pdf
6. Witt CM, Jena S, Selim D, et al. Pragmatic randomized trial evaluating the clinical and economic effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic low back pain, Am J Epidemiol, 1er septembre 2006, Vol. 164, no 5, 487-96.