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Acupuncture is a
component of the health care system of China that can
be traced back for at least
2,500 years. Since President Richard Nixon's visit to China
in 1972, there has been an explosion of interest in the
application of the technique of acupuncture in many western
countries including the United States. Acupuncture has
been used by millions of American patients and performed
by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and
other practitioners for relief or prevention of pain and
for a variety of health conditions. After reviewing the
existing body of knowledge, the U.S. food and Drug Administration
recently removed acupuncture needles from the category
of "experimental medical devices" and now regulates
them just as it does other devices, such as surgical scalpels
and hypodermic syringes.
In November of 1997, the National Institutes
of Health sponsored a conference to examine and evaluate
the many international studies, trials and research projects
conducted on acupuncture. The conference brought together
national and international experts in the fields of acupuncture,
pain, psychology, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation,
drug abuse, family practice, internal medicine, health
policy, epidemiology, statistics, physiology and biophysics,
as well as representatives from the public.
At the end of the three-day conference, on
November 5, an independent consensus panel weighed the
scientific evidence and released a consensus statement
which found among other things, clear benefits for various
post-operative pain and nausea, relief of pain in diverse
conditions such as tennis elbow and fibromyalgia, myofascial
pain, and low back pain.
The statement recommended several steps to
assure access to qualified acupuncture professional for
appropriate condition: good communication between physician
and acupuncturist, and the extension of coverage between
both private insurers and governmental health plans, including
Medicare and Medicaid.
Since becoming licensed in Acupuncture in
2000, Dr. Osborne uses various techniques of acupuncture
to treat those patients with joint or back pain as an alternative
to chiropractic manipulation or other pain therapies. Like
any treatment, not every patient will respond to acupuncture,
but most find significant relief, often when other therapies
have failed.
Osborne
Chiropractic Clinic
Raleigh
Chiropractic Clinic Location
5603 Suite 101, Duraleigh
Road • Raleigh, North Carolina 27612
Rolesville Chiropractic
Clinic Location
258 Southtown Circle • Rolesville, North Carolina
27571
© 2010
All Rights Reserved.
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