| x Acupuncture Articles Table of Contents You can find many articles about acupuncture by doing a search on the internet.
Related Books: Related Charts: Related Sites: http://www.mercola.com/2004/aug/14/acupuncture_nausea.htm Stimulating Acupuncture Stops Nausea
A review of more than 3,300 cases found acupuncture in the wrist relieved vomiting and nausea in patients after surgery. Stimulating the pericardium, or P6, acupuncture point on the wrist reduces the nausea that affects about 80 percent of the people who have had anesthetics. Moreover, patients who received P6 acupuncture were less likely by about 28 percent to feel nausea than those using placebo methods or medications. In fact, acupuncture--the process of inserting fine needles into the body at various points--was found to be just as effective as routine medications in various trials. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2004 Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Another study verified the effectiveness of meridian-based energy therapies like acupuncture to help pregnant woman better handle their common bouts of nausea. I'm not as much of a fan of acupuncture because doing so requires an office visit with a specialist to insert the needles. Because I believe in inexpensive and non-toxic solutions for problems like these, I recommend Sea Bands, acupressure wrist bands that help people who suffer from motion sickness. During a recent Google search, I found some 1.3 million links to Web sites describing or selling them, including Amazon.com. Although Sea Bands don't treat the cause, they provide a simple and inexpensive solution to this problem. http://www.mercola.com/1998/archive/alternative_therapies.htm Majority of Americans Use Alternative Therapies Sixty-nine percent of Americans recently surveyed reported having used alternative medicine during the past year. Dr. Wes Alles, of Stanford University, California, presented his group's findings at the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Conference held last week at Stanford. In a nationwide, random telephone survey of 1,000 men and women over the age of 18, 18% of respondents said that they had used massage therapy, 17% had used chiropractic therapy and 14% had used folk medicine during the past year. In addition, 36% had self-administered vitamin therapy and more than 30% had used herbal medicine. What we see from this current survey and many other indicators is that people generally want to take control of their own health, using those services they find most effective. This places responsibility on both traditional care providers and health educators to ensure that responsible information and advice are available to patients. Dr. Mercola's Comment: I firmly believe people are not stupid. They appreciate having traditional medicine available for acute emergencies, but they intuitively understand that using chemicals (drugs) and surgery for a chronic disease is generally a prescription for disaster. This survey was done by traditional medicine physicians who are relatively clueless as to what types of natural medicine strategies are available. They did not ask about the most important type of treatment which is modification of one’s diet with someone who understands nutrition. That is NOT a dietician. My experience suggests that certified clinical nutritionists (CCN for short) provide the best approach to diet counseling.
http://www.mercola.com/1998/archive/alternative_medicine.htm JAMA Says MDs Should Take Heed of Alternative Medicine Even if doctors don't put much stock in alternative therapies, they have an obligation to address their patients' use of such remedies. Alternative medicine and conventional medicine share some important goals, which provide some support for a limited professional obligation toward alternative medicine. Patients spend about $13 billion a year on alternative medicine, and out of respect for the patients, a physician should be ready to address alternate remedies. Physicians should learn about alternate remedies so they can prevent patients from injuring themselves. This is critical since some alternative medicine therapies are known to be harmful. In addition, there may be harmful interactions between conventional and alternative medicine therapies. The Journal of the American Medical Association Dr. Mercola's Comment:
http://www.mercola.com/2001/aug/22/alternative.htm Traditional Medicine Starts to by Judy Gerstel We're on the brink of going back to the future in medicine. Stem cells, genes and transplants are getting the headlines, but the bigger story may be that medicine is advancing beyond the biomedical model and embracing medical pluralism. The overwhelming trend is the integration of orthodox medicine, defined by its pharmaceuticals and invasive techniques, with other ancient, old-fashioned and unconventional healing practices. The future of medicine, it seems, is not only in the high-tech laboratory and the surgical suite but also on the NST and massage tables, at the herbalists and the health food store, behind the therapist's closed door, but most especially in the cerebral hemisphere -- the mind. This week's edition of Annals Of Internal Medicine, the August journal of the conservative American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, kicks off an unprecedented series on complementary and alternative medicine. And they take the subject seriously, referring to "postmodern medical diversity." It's probably the first time that Haitian "vodun", hair analysis, crystals, magnets and charismatic healing have all been mentioned without derision in the pages of Annals. Authored by David Eisenberg, MD, and Ted Kaptchuk, OMD (Doctor of Oriental Medicine) of Harvard Medical School and its division of complementary and integrative medical therapies, the series considers everything from acupuncture to iridology to chicken soup to Reiki to vitamins to "ethno-medicine." "The alternative medicine `boom' is not new," Kaptchuk says. "What's new is that orthodox medicine has abandoned the crusade against alternative medicine and is trying to accommodate widespread patient belief and acceptance of these practices." MDs are unlikely to suddenly start recommending copper bracelets to combat arthritis or stopping a nosebleed by placing a a red string around the neck, but they are acknowledging that a patient's belief in healing properties may be just as powerful in many medical situations as the interventions of the physician. In this week's issue of the journal Science, there's stunning testimony from University of British Columbia researchers about how the mind can heal the body. Their study suggests that the placebo effect in Parkinson's disease produces the same neurological outcome as active drugs used to treat Parkinson's: an increase in dopamine release by neurons impaired by the disease. The placebo effect occurs when individuals take an inactive substance, rather than an active drug, and experience beneficial effects only because they believe they're receiving beneficial treatment. "The magnitude of the placebo effect was surprising," admits UBC researcher Ral de la Fuente-Ferny¥ndez. "The greater the expectation, the greater the effect of the mind's healing power." He adds, "This paper shows that there must be a bridge between traditional medicine and natural medicine." In studies of the impact of psychological therapies on longevity in patients with metastatic cancers, Ontario Cancer Institute senior scientist Alastair Cunningham found an association between intense spiritual work and longer survival. "The psychological dimension offers promise for the treatment of many physical diseases," writes Cunningham in the forthcoming issue of Advances In Mind-Body Medicine, an innovative, peer-reviewed scholarly journal published in the U.S. "Modern medicine is conservative," says Cunningham. "My approach is to try to play on the medical playing field and give evidence." Scientific, evidence-based proof of the placebo effect and the psychological dimension is only one reason for the dramatic shift right now toward inclusiveness and away from the historical antagonism to alternative practices by the medical establishment, say the Annals authors. "People generally adopt multiple healing practices, even when biomedicine is generally available," note the Annals authors. This sheer force of numbers comes at the same time as a trend toward consumer-oriented medicine and away from "doctor knows best." More and more, the increasingly sophisticated patient is an educated partner in medical decisions. Knowledgeable health consumers are letting the medical profession know they want inclusive medicine. The medical profession is responding for two reasons. First, there's money to be made from patients, since most alternative services must be paid for privately. But with the US leading the way, there's also more funding for alternative and complementary medicine. American researchers vie for grants from the prestigious National Institutes of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine. And insurance providers such as HMOs in the US are beginning to realize that alternative practices can be just as effective and a lot cheaper than expensive high-tech interventions. But what may appear to be new and cutting-edge is only a change in perception and attitude by orthodox medicine, maintains Harvard's Kaptchuk, co-author of the Annals article. "I'm so bored with people being hypocritical and pretending that all this is new, rather than saying that they've changed standards," he says. "That's a kind of distortion, not looking at the reality of the phenomena. It's the response that's different. What is new is that conventional medicine has to redefine its relationship to this phenomena. "Kaptchuk claims that orthodox medicine's nascent inclusiveness of complementary and alternative medicine is "a breathless attempt to co-opt it." "It's market-driven," he says, with distaste. His cynicism is understandable. "In 1970 I was arrested in Cambridge (Mass.) for practicing medicine without a license," Kaptchuk says. "Now I'm a professor at Harvard Medical School." The Star.com Dr. Mercola's Comment: First it was Dr. Eisenberg's article in NEJM eight years ago (328:246-252, Jan 28, 1993) that started the whole process. Then three years ago JAMA devoted an entire issue to alternative therapies. Now the journal of the highly conservative and ultra traditional US Internists (Annals of Internal Medicine) publishes an update of Dr. Eisenberg's article in its August 2001 issue.
http://www.pbs.org/bodyandsoul/205/kaptchuk.htm Ancient HealingTed Kaptchuk, OMD
Ted Kaptchuk, OMD, earned his doctorate in Oriental Medicine from the Macau Institute of Chinese Medicine in 1975. He is now the associate director of the Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Author of the book, The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine, he recently spoke with Body & Soul senior executive producer Gail Harris. Following are some excerpts from their conversation. Gail Harris: How did the Chinese come up with their view of how the human body works? Ted Kaptchuk: We don't know for sure how China developed its views. It's speculation. But one could easily say that, what we call Chinese medicine is based on a philosophic perspective that develops in China in the third, fourth, fifth century BC -- a perspective that rejects supernatural healing. A philosophy that said, instead, one could understand illness and health by using the human mind. One could actually have access to what's going on in a person's life in terms of what they feel, what they experience -- by paying attention, and by using normal sensations. It's based on the Taoist and Confucian philosophies, which emphasized human knowledge as opposed to supernatural knowledge. The Taoists say that the most important thing is the knowledge within, not the gods and demon world. They believe that there is nobility in human awareness. GH: So, in the Western tradition, we believe that we can figure things out. And the Chinese say that doesn't matter -- what matters is what we see? TK: Well, we have multiple traditions in the West, and actually China has multiple traditions too. In Western medicine, if we want to find the cause of an illness, we try to find the invisible agents -- germs and different kinds of chemicals in the endocrine system, different questions of the nervous system, things that we can't see. And we look for those linear cause-and-effect relationships to explain a person's discomfort or symptoms. In China, there's a fundamental belief that one can know another human being -- that one can understand illness and health by being with them, listening to them, and observing them. Paying attention. And that one can finally get a sense that this person's way in the world is too active here, not active enough here, too hot, too cold. Something is not balanced right. And getting that gestalt, then, allows the physician or healer to either make suggestions, give herbs, give acupuncture, whatever the intervention is. But there's the sense that you can know another human being…That's a profound belief for people to practice on, and even more important, it's a profound experience for patients to feel.
GH: Is it too simplistic to say that Western medicine tends to look at problems-or people- as a collection of body parts? And Chinese medicine looks at them as being a complete person that needs to be in harmony to be really well? TK: You can have bad Chinese doctors. You can have bad Western doctors. However, it's easier to pay attention to people as a Chinese doctor because it is your job is to pay attention. Every piece of information -- how the patient makes an appointment on the telephone, how they shake your hand, how they introduce themselves -- all that information is part of what you need to gather. But in fact, all great healers, I think, use a kind of intuition to pay attention. GH: What's accounting for the lines in the sand between Eastern and Western medicine being a little less clearly drawn? Is it because now there's more scientific evidence that demonstrates, in fact, that some of these things like acupuncture are valid? TK: I think scientific evidence is an important contribution to the discussion. For instance in acupuncture, there's a clear link between endorphins and acupuncture, and there have been some positive randomized control trials, the fact that you can produce evidence of say, acupuncture easing nausea and vomiting, or dental pain, for example. There's something going on there. It's not just the "imagination." Program Description
http://www.pbs.org/bodyandsoul/205/moxibustion.htm Ancient Healing: Moxibustion
Acupuncture has a well-documented history in China spanning over 2,000 years, but some studies believe it originated almost 4,000 years ago. In fact, examples of the earliest acupuncture needles made of stone (bian) and ceramic predate the development of iron. Hieroglyphics of both acupuncture and moxibustion date from the Shang Dynasty, three thousand years ago. Both Taoism and Confucianism have had a great influence over the development of medicine in China. One of the main tenets of Confucianism stresses that the body is holy, and must remain intact through life and into death. The Taoists, on the other hand, believe that the key to health is the maintenance of balance between opposing forces in nature, symbolized most powerfully by yin and yang. The philosophy of Chinese medicine can be said to exist between these two philosophies: disharmony brings 'dis-ease', and a doctor can cure the patient through detailed and accurate observations of the external and emotional life of the patient. Acupuncture and moxibustion have both been successful in curing internal disease through external means. Acupuncture is based on ancient theories of the flow of life force energy, qi (pronounced "chee"), along pathways or meridians, similar in concept to the nervous and circulatory system. According to acupuncture theory, disease or pain is caused by a blockage of qi at one or more organs or acupoints along the meridians. Needles are used to stimulate these points and facilitate the free flow of blocked energy. Moxibustion, frequently used in conjunction with acupuncture, places burning herbs near the skin or directly on the acupuncture needles, using heat to stimulate the same meridian points. There are over 300 points and fourteen channels on the human body which are used today in acupuncture.
This method of healing dates back to the Sui dynasty (AD 561-618.) Acupuncture, moxibustion and herbal medicine formed the basis of the curriculum of the first medical college in China, which was founded at this time. Through the centuries, techniques continued to grow and develop. Contact with Europeans in the 16th century opened the West to this ancient medicine. The Jesuits, in particular, collected and disseminated a great deal of traditional Eastern medical information to Europe, while also bringing Western concepts to China. Missionaries established Western medical colleges at the end of the 19th century in China, and acupuncture was briefly outlawed in 1929. However, under Communist rule, there was a return to traditional Chinese medicine, especially in the countryside, where the remedies were cheap, accepted by the people, and used skills. Throughout the 1950's, many new clinics were opened in China to provide, teach, and investigate traditional methods of Chinese medicine. The resurgence in interest along with access to Western techniques, led to the development of many new methods of acupuncture, including ear, scalp and electro-acupuncture, which uses small electrical currents to stimulate the needles.
Many Eastern and Western health practitioners seem to agree that acupuncture and moxibustion have the highest success rates when treating chronic conditions such as back problems and arthritis in adults, or asthma and ear infections in children. In addition, they have been found useful in treating migraine headaches, side effects from chemotherapy, and gynecological conditions. Recently, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study which showed moxibustion was an effective therapy for treating pregnant woman and reversing breech babies, (Cardini & Welxin, JAMA Nov 11, 1998-vol. 280, No. 18).
Program Description
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15023830 Acupuncture 'Beats Headache Pain' Researchers have found acupuncture to be a useful, inexpensive and effective form of treatment for people who suffer from chronic or migraine headaches. Studies have shown acupuncture to work better than conventional treatments alone and result in fewer headaches. Participants of the study included 401 patients from England and Wales who suffered from several headaches each week. One group received acupuncture plus standard treatment and the other received normal therapy alone. The patients who received acupuncture plus standard treatment were administered 12 treatments over the course of three months. Results of the study concluded the patients receiving acupuncture experienced 22 fewer days of headaches per year, took 15 percent less medication and saw their doctors 25 percent less than the other group. Also, acupuncture decreased the severity and frequency of headaches in those who experienced severe headaches. Acupuncture treatment involves the insertion of extremely fine needles into the skin at precise points in the body. It has been shown to help with nausea and pain and has been known to help women undergoing fertility treatments to conceive. British Medical Journal
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-03-03-acupuncture-blood-usat_x.htm Acupuncture's Secret:
How acupuncture works has been a great mystery to scientists, but now it appears that the use of acupuncture on pain-relief points cuts the blood flow to key areas of the brain within seconds, which provided the best explanation to date of how this ancient technique might help relieve pain and treat addictions. A team of researchers used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) on approximately 20 healthy volunteers before, during and after acupuncture to determine the changes in blood flow and the amount of oxygen in blood. Acupuncture needles were applied on the hand linked to pain relief as in traditional Chinese medicine. Volunteers experienced heaviness in their hands within seconds as a side effect of blood flow decreasing to specific areas of the brain. The needles affected specific areas of the brain that were triggers for pain, mood and cravings. This should explain why acupuncture is a useful alternative to treating depression, eating problems, addictions and pain. The areas of the brain affected were loaded with dopamine, a “reward” chemical that produces intense reactions to anything from food to beautiful images and money. The slowing of the blood flow could lead to the dopamine effect that results in releasing endorphins that provide the brain with natural pain relieving and comforting chemicals. Results of this study were a positive first step, however controlled research on pain and addiction patients will be needed to solidify the research. Brain scans are recommended for patients getting acupuncture to determine the exact pain-relief points. Experts have found the effects of the placebo are so powerful that they could affect blood flow and increase brain chemicals such as endorphins. USA Today
http://www.mercola.com/2002/mar/13/acupuncture.htm Acupuncture May Safely Treat Morning Sickness Acupuncture may be an effective treatment for some symptoms of morning sickness during early pregnancy. The use of acupuncture in early pregnancy will reduce or resolve symptoms of nausea and dry retching earlier than simply waiting for them to improve with time. Researchers studied nearly 600 women who were all less than 14 weeks pregnant and suffered from frequent nausea and vomiting. The women were randomly divided into four study groups. One group received traditional acupuncture, in which needles were inserted into a variety of acupuncture points on the forearm or abdomen, while another received p6 acupuncture, in which needles were inserted at one specific pressure point (p6) traditionally associated with nausea and vomiting. The third group received "sham" acupuncture, in which needles were inserted near, but not on, acupuncture points; and the last group was a "control" group that did not receive acupuncture. Acupuncture was given five times during the 4-week study period -- twice during the first week, and once per week during subsequent weeks. At the end of the first week, women who received traditional acupuncture reportedly experienced less frequent nausea and shorter periods of nausea than did their peers in the control group. Their improved nausea symptoms persisted throughout each weekly follow-up. The p6 acupuncture group reported less nausea than the controls at the end of the second week and into the third and fourth weeks, while the sham group reported improvements at the third and fourth week follow-ups. Dry retching symptoms, in contrast, did not improve until the second week, and then only in the traditional acupuncture group, who reported fewer periods of dry retching and less distress from dry retching than did their peers. By the end of the third week, both the p6 and the sham acupuncture groups also reported greater improvements in dry retching in comparison to their peers in the control group. Acupuncture did not seem to affect vomiting, but it did influence the women's overall health status, particularly among those that received traditional acupuncture, study findings indicate. For example, women who received traditional acupuncture reported greater improvements in vitality, social and physical function, mental health and emotion at the end of the study period than did their peers in the control group. Their vitality scores were also higher than those reported by the p6 or sham acupuncture groups. In light of the findings, acupuncture can be considered an effective non-pharmacological treatment option for women who experience nausea and dry retching and should be promoted and offered to women. Because no adverse effects were noted in follow-ups conducted after the women gave birth, the researchers consider acupuncture to be a safe and effective treatment option for women. Birth
Another study documenting the effectiveness of meridian based energy therapies, like acupuncture, for the control of this common and quite distressing symptom, nausea associated with pregnancy. I am not as fond of acupuncture for this problem though as it requires you to visit someone for the needle insertion. Last year I posted an article that inexpensive acupressure devices can provide similar relief. I am strongly attracted to these inexpensive non-toxic solutions for common problems. Acupressure wrist bands have been used for some time for those who suffer from motion sickness. They are available at nearly all sports stores and called Sea Bands. While the bands certainly do not treat the cause, they can provide a simple yet elegant solution for this problem. If you are unable to find them at your local sports store, just use your favorite search engine as there are many places that sell them on line. Certainly one would also want to follow an optimized eating plan as a major part to address one of the likely underlying causes of the nausea. You can read the articles below for other options on morning sickness. Gary Craig has mentioned that EFT if often successful at alleviating morning sickness.
http://www.mercola.com/2001/dec/1/acupuncture.htm Acupuncture Helps Fibromyalgia Acupuncture helped relieve symptoms such as pain and depression in women with the chronic pain disorder fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a disorder that causes muscle pain, stiffness and fatigue for unknown reasons. It affects about 2% of Americans, mainly women. In the study, the researchers randomly assigned 60 women who suffered from fibromyalgia into three groups. All patients received amitriptyline, a standard pain modifier used for fibromyalgia, at bedtime for 16 weeks. In addition, 20 of the women received a once-a-week, 30-minute acupuncture session while a second group of 20 underwent a once-a-week, 30-minute sham-acupuncture session where they were punctured in areas not believed to have any effect on pain.The patients were evaluated every month for pain, depression and quality of life measures by healthcare workers who were unaware which treatment they were receiving. The researchers reported that patients who received the real acupuncture were the only ones who showed statistically significant improvement on measures of pain, depression and mental health after the first month. The results lasted for up to 16 weeks, at which time the patients began regressing slightly and would need reinforcement acupuncture sessions, Feldman said. "It's not a one-time treatment. Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology Dr. Mercola's Comment: In my experience fibromyalgia is nearly always related to some severe emotional trauma that establishes a series of potentially devastating physical processes, which frequently incapacitate the person. I am not surprised that acupuncture seems to work for it. It is certainly better than the traditional approaches. I am also not surprised that it did not provide long-term benefit. I have seen far more effective results with NST. More recently EFT, which is acupuncture for psychological issues, has been amazingly effective in providing permanent relief from these problems. In the November 17 workshop on EFT that I taught I did a demonstration with a woman who had fibromyalgia in her hips that was quite severe, and which prevented her from sitting without pain for three years. The pain was so severe she had been unable to visit her family for the last several years as she was unable to tolerate the plane ride. She had not received any benefit from acupuncture. Yet within several minutes the EFT was able to completely and permanently eliminate her pain. It was quite an amazing demonstration as most of her pain was related to the sadness of not seeing her family, the stress and trauma of the accident that caused the pain, and her need to forgive the driver of the truck that hit her.
http://www.mercola.com/2002/jul/27/carpal_tunnel.htm Laser Acupuncture Works for Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome who did not respond to previous treatment experienced much less pain from their condition after treatment applying lasers and electrical stimulation to acupuncture points. During the study, 11 patients received alternating rounds of treatment using lasers and electrical stimulation directed at acupuncture points along the hand and wrist, and a "sham" treatment, which did not provide any therapeutic benefits. Both treatments were painless, and patients could not tell which they were receiving at different times. The investigators found that most patients reported less pain after receiving a series of real treatments, but no improvement after the sham treatment. Following the study, all were able to return to their previous jobs -- as a typist and housepainter, for example -- and most reported no deterioration in their symptoms for between 1 and 3 years after the treatment. Acupuncture involves placing fine needles at specific points on the body's surface. Traditional theory holds that these points connect with energy pathways or meridians that run through the body, and acupuncture helps keep this natural energy flow running smoothly. Marked by numbness and tingling in the hand and wrist, and pain that can extend up to the shoulder, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is caused by work or hobbies that involve repetitive motions of the upper limbs. Swelling in the wrist compresses nerves that travel from the forearm to the hand through a "tunnel" in the wrist. Treatment includes painkillers, braces, steroid injections into the joint, and surgery to "release" the ligament that runs through the tunnel and puts pressure on nerves. However, many of those existing treatments do not work. Injecting steroids often only removes pain for 2 to 4 months, and only 40% of those who undergo surgery are eventually able to return to normal functioning. Furthermore, those treatments can be expensive, they note. In 1993, treating one case of CTS in California cost more than $5,000 without surgery. The study included 11 hands from 11 patients, all of whom had tried and failed previous treatments, including one person who had undergone surgery. During the study, patients received a series of 9 to 12 treatments, either real or sham. After a treatment series, patients were then given a round of the treatment they had not yet received. The real treatment consisted of lasers and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) directed at acupuncture points along the hand and wrist. Three patients responded extremely well to the sham treatment, and so were not included in the analysis. Of the eight others, none experienced a reduction in pain after the sham treatment, and seven said their pain was reduced by at least half after the real treatment. All 11 were able to go back to their original jobs after the study ended. Given how long patients live pain-free, the treatment seems to do more than just masking symptoms. Rather than just simply alleviating the pain and symptoms, the treatment appears to cure the problem. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Unlike the landmark placebo study on knee surgery that was published last week, this procedure actually worked. The placebo effect in this small trial was near the 30% one typically sees in placebo trials. In other words, nearly 1/3 of the patients got better when given no "real" treatment other than the psycho-emotional belief that they would get better. There was, however, a clear difference between the laser and placebo groups: 2/3 of the group that actually received the laser acupuncture showed improvement. This is another clear indication of the validity of EFT, which operates with the acupuncture meridians. Rather than using a laser, as in this study, EFT uses gentle tapping that introduces a kinetic energy into the acupuncture meridian. While EFT can work for some carpal tunnel cases, more likely the carpal tunnel would resolve with a structural approach like the one described in the study or via NST, the technique we use in our office. NST is a gentle massage technique from Australia that has worked incredibly well for nearly all our carpal tunnel patients to permanently resolve the problem in a few sessions. NST helps your body actually repair and recover the damaged tissue; we have rarely found the need to refer any patients with carpal tunnel for injections or surgical intervention. If you are interested in this procedure, please see this list of practitioners. Health care professional should consider our NST training course in September -- the only NST course being offered in the U.S. for the rest of the year. Last week one of the leading EFT practitioners in the US, Dr. Patricia Carrington, wrote me about her experiences with NST:
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