TREATMENT DATABASE
Acupuncture is a therapeutic technique in which small needles are inserted under the skin at chi points to promote the repair and healing of major organs, regulate body metabolism, and correct physical ailments that result from imbalances in the flow of chi (also qi).
Acupuncture is based on the concept of chi, which is life energy. In the Chinese conceptual system, chi flows along channels throughout the body, which can be felt at specific points. When a person is ill, these points become tender. The acupuncturist can discern the nature of the illness and treat it by finding the tender points and stimulating them with small needles inserted just under the surface of the skin. Many years of rigorous training, as well as considerable talent, are required to be able to locate these acupuncture points.
Because the concept of vital energy, or "life force," is entirely absent in European conceptions of illness, it is difficult to say how acupuncture works. The system of meridians does not correspond to the central nervous system (CNS) or any other physiological system, insofar as anatomists can determine. There has been speculation that some of the effects produced by acupuncture may result from localized stimulation of cortisol or perhaps a kind of "distraction" of the CNS utilizing electrical fields or endorphins; the mechanism, however, is still not readily explained using the European model of the body.
Acupuncture produces distinct effects in about 80% of patients, whereas 20% note no effect. In China, acupuncturists use acupuncture to treat any condition that is reversible. They also use it to block pain. Since the late 1950s, more than 600,000 operations have been performed in China using acupuncture analgesia. Acupuncture has also been used successfully to treat animals.
USES IN ME/CFS: Several dozen studies investigating the use of acupuncture for ME/CFS have been published. Unfortunately for non-Chinese speakers, most of these have not been translated. (The abstracts of many of them can be viewed on PubMed.) The majority of these studies have shown that ME/CFS patients experience a reduction in symptoms, particularly pain, fatigue, and brain fog.
| Rating | Side Effects | Reason for Treatment | Dosage / Duration | Age | Sex M/F | # of years Ill | Additional Comments | Illness Severity | Date Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Hyperalgia, and then P.E.N.E. because of being at the appointment. | Trying to feel better | 1 day 1 1X year | 35 | Female | 9 | Moderate | 12/10/17 | |
| 2 | Therapist thought we should try it. Perhaps it got my lymph flowing a bit more, but otherwise I noticed no real difference. | 1 day One session with cupping 1X day | 32 | Male | 18 | Moderate | 12/17/17 | ||
| 5 | None | Headache, joint pain, bowel blockage, incomplete miscarriage, pulled muscles | 15 year Variable 1X week | 53 | Female | 20 | Very effective symptom management. | Moderate/Severe | 09/18/19 |
| 4 | No side effects. Session usually last about 1 hour. | After researching, I read that it could help with fatigue. | 3 year As recommended 1X month | 48 | Female | 4 | When I first started I would say my symptoms were close to moderate. I was a changed person after my first session. I felt like myself again, but not knowing what I was dealing with I would do too much and end up feeling fatigued again. Acupuncture worked for quite awhile, but the last few times I’ve gone I have felt no different. | Mild | 09/29/19 |
| 5 | None really except for my first treatment with a person who was unexperienced with ME and was too heavy with the needles. Five element acupuncture suits ME, don’t got for physio type treatments, they are not the same. We need an holistic treatment who looks at ME like it is a virus. That is how I was treated and it was never “too much”. | ME Fibro - and undiagnosed Mast cell activation. | 20 year I had the type where needles were not left in, just ‘tweeked’. 1X week | 50 | Female | 30 | I had acupuncture for over twenty years until covid. It helped with pain - particularly when I had a painful shoulder that couldn’t be relieved with anything. Also helped my sleep, exhaustion, wellbeing, equilibrium. Mood, motivation, stiffness, cognitive function. Although I am more severe now, I was mostly mod severe when I had acupuncture. | Moderate/Severe | 10/17/22 |