Effect of trigger point acupuncture treatment on chronic low back pain in elderly patients-Three cases of effectiveness with trigger points, instead of the traditional acupoints- / 全日本鍼灸学会雑誌

ABSTRACT

[Purpose] Elderly patients with chronic low back pain have often been treated by acupuncture andmoxibustion therapy, using the traditional acupoints for low back pain. But there are some patients who do not get a clinical effect. Therefore, we tried to treat three such patients with three sessions of trigger point acupuncture therapy, instead of using the traditional acupoints for low back pain.<BR>[Methods] The patients were aged 74, 71 and 66, and had low back pain for at least 6 months. They hadround backs, but there were no extraordinary findings in their neurological examinations.<BR>[Results] During and after the previous therapy using the traditional acupoints for low back pain, there wereno remarkable clinical effects on low back pain. But during and after the present therapy using trigger points, there were remarkable clinical effects on low back pain, as evaluated by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the pain disability assessment scale (PDAS).<BR>[Conclusion] These results suggest that the trigger point acupuncture therapy may be more effective on lowback pain in elderly patients than acupuncture therapy which uses the traditional acupoints.