ABSTRACT
Objective:We successfully treated a patient suffering from pain and numbness in the waist and lower limbs with phobia. Sedative acupuncture treatment was performed in addition to somatic treatment.<BR>Case:A 64-year-old woman complained mainly of pain and numbness in the right waist and the lower limbs and had a sense of fear. Following the postoperative pain of lumbar disk herniation (L4-L5) in X-14 year, dorsal positioning without grasping anything frequently triggered a sense of fear with a scary feeling that her body was suspended in midair, which could not be alleviated by medication. As the symptoms in the waist and lower limbs recurred due to a fall in January of X year, she consulted an orthopedist in April. She was given a diagnosis of lumbar disk hernia (L5-S1) and hospitalized. Since the symptoms sustained, she consulted the department of acupuncture attached to the Kansai University of Health Sciences Clinic in November. The sense of fear triggered by dorsal position in the acupuncture treatment interfered with the treatment. When she was referred to the department of psychosomatic medicine, the diagnosis of "Other types"of the DSM-IV "300.29 specific phobia"was given. While low-frequency acupuncture electrotherapy on the same side and the same level as the hernia was provided, we applied sedative acupuncture treatment once a week 30 times using the following acupuncture points:GV23;PC6;CV17;and CV6. Before and after every acupuncture treatment after the 10th, the symptoms were evaluated with Finger Floor Distance (FFD), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) of pain and mood (feelings) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). <BR>Results:The sense of fear during the acupuncture treatment slowly decreased after the 14th treatment. Decreases in FFD, VAS for pain and mood (feelings), and state anxiety score of STAI were observed. The pain and the numbness in the waist and the lower limbs decreased in parallel with the sense of fear. Furthermore, the dosage of hypnotic agent decreased gradually as sleep improved. <BR>Conclusion:Pain and numbness in the waist and the lower limbs with phobia were relieved by sedative acupuncture treatment.
ABSTRACT
In the present study, acupuncture treatment has performed in a patient with spondylosis deformans combined piriformis syndrome, and applied to relief the hypertonus of the piriformis in the right buttock. As a result, the mitigation of right buttock pain and subsequent improvement in the range of the hip joint motion were observed from the early stage of treatment. These acupuncture effects are probably due to pain relief that resulted from increased local muscle blood flow following acupuncture stimulation. In addition, the present patient was suspected of double lesion neuropathy consisting of spondylosis deformans complicated by piriformis syndrome. From the present study, acupuncture therapy is thought to be useful method of enhancing the decompression of an entrapped nerve and vessels by increasing blood flow in the affected muscle in entrapment neuropathy such as thoracic outlet syndrome or piriformis syndrome.
ABSTRACT
The effect of acupuncture on the autonomic nervous system was analyzed by simultaneous measurement of sympathetic skin response (SSR), sympathetic flow response (SFR) and Palmer emotional sweating evoked with electric stimuli to the forehead at random interval and intensity. The mutual relation of measurements by those parameters was examined electrophysiologically.<BR>The subjects were ten healthy male volunteers. SSR at the left palm and SFR at the fingertip of the left forefinger were measured using laser doppler flowmetry, and emotional sweating at teh right palm was measured with the ventilated capsule method (hydrography). The measurements were performed in two sessions, with and without acupuncture stimulation that was given at L14 with the technique of sparrow picking (1Hz) for 1 minute and retaining the needle for 10 minutes. The amplitude of SSR, the reduction rate of SFR, and the sweat rate were measured before and after acupuncture stimulation, while those were measured before and after resting in the other session as a control study. As a result, habituation in each response was not seen and the correlation coefficient in each index was low, while SSR and Palmar sweating were inhibited significantly in the stimulation group only, and SFR was inhibited in both groups.<BR>These results suggested that acupuncture stimulation might inhibit the activity of the skin sympathetic nerve system.
ABSTRACT
To investigate the effect of acupuncture treatment combined with extreme infra-red rays radiation, we measured both skin surface and deep temperature at the stimulated area and peripheral site. The subjects were seven healthy volunteers with no problems involving the skin or autonomic nervous system. Acupuncture stimulation was performed on the Subject's back in combination with extreme infra-red rays radiation. The skin surface and deep temperature were measured at both the stimulated area and peripheral site (sole of the foot) using a thermistor temperature sensor and deep tissue thermometer during stimulation. We also measured temperature at those sites during extreme infrared rays radiation without acupuncture stimulation as a control study. Acupuncture stimulation combined with extreme infra-red rays radiation on the subject's back increases both surface and deep temperature at both the stimulated area and the peripheral site (sole of the foot), while the radiation alone had no effect on the temperature at the peripheral site. We suggested that acupuncture treatment combined with extreme infra-red rays radiation was useful to increase skin surface and deep temperature not only at the stimulated area but also at the peripheral site.