Tests confirm the effectiveness of this branch of Chinese medicine in relieving disorders linked to compression of the median nerve in the wrist. What is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS)? It manifests itself as recurring pain in the hand, tingling in the fingers, numbness, lack of strength, all annoying and disabling symptoms due to compression of the median nerve. This, coming from the wrist, “desserts” the hand all the way to the fingertips.
This compression comes from the anterior annular ligament of the carpus which is perpendicular to the fingers, at the base of the hand and thumb, at the border of the wrist.
For Chinese medicine, there is either an obstruction of circulation or a lack of nutrition of the tendons. Acupuncture treatment therefore essentially aims to drain/activate circulation or to strengthen the nutrition of the tendons. And generally speaking, it works quite well, especially if you add light electrical stimulation.
A study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) sheds some light on the question of “how does it work?”. Results generalizable to many chronic pains.
"Phantom acupuncture could play on the neural circuits of the placebo effect and amplify them” Vitaly Napadow, from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
Three groups of patients suffering from CTS were formed. The first was treated with electroacupuncture on the affected hand; the second received electroacupuncture on the ankle opposite the painful hand; the third group underwent false electro-stimulation to the affected hand with imitation needles.
Surprisingly, all patients reported relief from their pain, even those with phantom electro-stimulation.
Still with measurable differences. Particularly in the brain.
All patients were followed before and after treatments using functional MRI. With electro-acupuncture applied to the affected hand, researchers saw a clear remodeling of the activity of certain areas of the primary somatosensory cortex in cases of CTS. We see that it works.
A little less good when acting on the ankle. But, for the phantom treatment, no physiological signs could be demonstrated.
However, there is much improvement, and much more than if it were a classic placebo effect. “Phantom acupuncture could play on the neuronal circuits of the placebo effect and amplify them,” estimates Vitaly Napadow who led this work.
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