Rondo Getting Acupuncture in Rehab?

Paging Dr. Worcester, Paging Dr. Worcester!


Rajon Rondo        ✔ @RajonRondo
It's goin.RT @w_thimas14: @RajonRondo hows ur day going?
8:03 AM - 27 Sep 2013






bob


.

I'm on pins and needles waiting to hear more about this.

Sam

If that is indeed Rajon's leg, I'm happy to hear that he's getting acupuncture. However:

I strongly question the accuracy of the needle placements. I understand what the acupuncturist is trying to do, but the locations are off, from 1/2" to an inch on the more therapeutic spots for his ACL tear. Also, his recovery would be GREATLY enhanced if the needles were hooked up to a 9 volt alternating current stimulator set at 2 hz and 100 hz. If this were one of my students, I would give the practitioner a D+ for the treatment plan and implementation.

A better protocol would be needles with e-stim to Spleen 9 and 10, the eyes of the knee, Gall Bladder 31 and 34, and extra point Heding and Liver 8 --- plus the knee point located on the ear.

Ditto

Has acupuncture been conclusively shown to be beneficial in studies?

W -

I know this is part of the discipline of medicine you practice, however...

Have I mentioned I hate being stuck with needles?

Seemed like a good time to do so.

Regards

Yes NYCelt, and I hate being stuck with the check.

Swedeinestonia - there are many peer reviewed studies published in Western medical journals touting acupuncture's efficacy for treating knee problems. I wrote a book on the subject.

Check out -

- http://www.bmj.com/content/335/7617/436.full

or - http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7476/1216.full

or - http://www.bmj.com/content/27/1/3.abstract

Ann Intern Med. 2004 Dec 21;141(12):901-10.
Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial.
Berman BM, Lao L, Langenberg P, Lee WL, Gilpin AM, Hochberg MC.
Source

University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21207, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:

Evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture for reducing the pain and dysfunction of osteoarthritis is equivocal.
OBJECTIVE:

To determine whether acupuncture provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with sham acupuncture or education in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
DESIGN:

Randomized, controlled trial.
SETTING:

Two outpatient clinics (an integrative medicine facility and a rheumatology facility) located in academic teaching hospitals and 1 clinical trials facility.
PATIENTS:

570 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (mean age [+/-SD], 65.5 +/- 8.4 years).
INTERVENTION:

23 true acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks. Controls received 6 two-hour sessions over 12 weeks or 23 sham acupuncture sessions over 26 weeks.
MEASUREMENTS:

Primary outcomes were changes in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function scores at 8 and 26 weeks. Secondary outcomes were patient global assessment, 6-minute walk distance, and physical health scores of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36).
RESULTS:

Participants in the true acupuncture group experienced greater improvement in WOMAC function scores than the sham acupuncture group at 8 weeks (mean difference, -2.9 [95% CI, -5.0 to -0.8]; P = 0.01) but not in WOMAC pain score (mean difference, -0.5 [CI, -1.2 to 0.2]; P = 0.18) or the patient global assessment (mean difference, 0.16 [CI, -0.02 to 0.34]; P > 0.2). At 26 weeks, the true acupuncture group experienced significantly greater improvement than the sham group in the WOMAC function score (mean difference, -2.5 [CI, -4.7 to -0.4]; P = 0.01), WOMAC pain score (mean difference, -0.87 [CI, -1.58 to -0.16];P = 0.003), and patient global assessment (mean difference, 0.26 [CI, 0.07 to 0.45]; P = 0.02).
LIMITATIONS:

At 26 weeks, 43% of the participants in the education group and 25% in each of the true and sham acupuncture groups were not available for analysis.
CONCLUSIONS:

Acupuncture seems to provide improvement in function and pain relief as an adjunctive therapy for osteoarthritis of the knee when compared with credible sham acupuncture and education control groups.
Comment in

Acupuncture effective for osteoarthritis of the knee. [J Fam Pract. 2005]
Acupuncture and knee osteoarthritis. [Ann Intern Med. 2005]
Acupuncture and knee osteoarthritis. [Ann Intern Med. 2005]

Republished from

Acupunct Med. 2006 Dec;24 Suppl:S7-14.

Summary for patients in

Ann Intern Med. 2004 Dec 21;141(12):I20.

Hey, W,

I was intrigued by the term "sham acupuncture," so I looked it up. As I suspected, the term refers to a placebo used as a control in an experimental study. Couldn't they have come up with something better than "sham?" Perhaps something a little more sophisticated, like "fake" or "pseudo" or "phony" or "guess which one I am?"

Sam

W -

Good comeback.

So for someone like me, 3 knee surgeries over a span of many, many years leaving me with arthritis on the underside of my kneecap, is this something that could provide longer term pain relief?  I can't take Motrin or acetominophin (sp), so I usually just tough it out.  I don't have constant pain, but from time to time weather or over-doing things trying to play against younger, faster guys will do it.  I've had cortisone a couple of times (did I mention I hate long, sharp needles?) and that does provide relief for a good amount of time.

Sorry to bug you with a professional question.  I know that's normally something you draw income from and I normally wouldn't ask, but the conversation seems to be going in that direction.  Because in my own line of work I'd have to answer with 'I can't really answer that' (darn SEC) I'll understand if you can't really answer that!

Regards

Are you uncomfortable with that term because of the similarity to Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs of Wooly Bully fame?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZJiGu6Gz8E

NYCelt - The EPA of Omega 3 fatty acids taken to the strength of 3000 mg a day can make a big difference. Acupuncture can help too. For tendon and ligament tears and even eroded cartilage I strongly recommend PRP therapy as Kobe reputedly had done in Germany. Even better is CRP therapy - Cytokine Rich Plasma therapy injected into the knee joint area.

BTW, for any of you interested, I've been saving up for a ring and will be presenting one to Debbie on Thursday. Did you know the price for a box of Cracker Jacks has jumped to $1.25. Had to buy a dozen to get something suitable.

W,

I was always more of a Little Red Riding Hood guy, but thanks for the reminder that they did Wooly Bully.

We'll all be thinking of you on Thursday and wishing both of you all the best.

Sam

W -

Thanks for the info.

Make sure to wash the caramel off the ring before Thursday!

Regards

I'll lick it off, for sure.

nycelt

Acupuncture is great, its a real treasure. I get it once a month for maintenance and sometimes more. Another device that has saved my knees is a device by Nikken called the PowerMag. Its a circular magnet that spins sending out a powerful healing current. I'll lay down on my coach, read the newspaper or watch TV and the magnet will be right between my knees, this a couple times a week has totally saved my knees.

cow

Hmm...interesting.

Thank you worcester, was not meant to be disrespectful or anything, was curious. Hear so much back and forth about it being bogus/working so nice to see some studies on it