Chronic pain is a pervasive condition that affects millions of individuals worldwide, significantly impacting their quality of life and daily functioning. In Tokyo, as in many other parts of the world, people suffering from chronic pain are often looking for alternative therapies to complement conventional treatments. One such treatment gaining popularity is acupuncture, an ancient healing practice that has been used for thousands of years in traditional oriental medicine. Acupuncture involves inserting fine needles into specific points on the body to stimulate energy flow, or qi, and restore balance. Recent research has demonstrated its effectiveness in managing various forms of chronic pain, offering relief for conditions such as fibromyalgia, musculoskeletal pain, and chronic headaches. This article explores the potential benefits of acupuncture for chronic pain sufferers in Tokyo and how this alternative therapy is being integrated into modern healthcare practices.
Chronic Pain
Chronic pain lasts months or years and can affect any part of your body. It interferes with daily life and can lead to depression and anxiety. The first step in chronic pain management is to find and treat the cause. When that isn’t possible, the most effective approach is a combination of medications, therapies and lifestyle changes.
What is chronic pain?
Chronic pain is pain that lasts for over three months. You may feel the pain all the time or it may come and go. It can happen anywhere in your body and has countless causes. Chronic pain is a very common condition and one of the most common reasons why people seek medical care.
Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something’s wrong, like an alarm. But when that alarm continues to go off for months or years, it can drown out many aspects of life that bring you joy. And it can take quite a toll on your physical, mental and emotional health. Because of this, it’s essential to seek help for chronic pain. Together, you and your healthcare provider can develop a plan to help dampen chronic pain.
Common types of chronic pain
Chronic pain can come in many different forms and occur across your body. It’s the main symptom of a wide range of injuries, infections and diseases. Common types of chronic pain include:
- Arthritis or joint pain, like knee pain.
- Back pain, especially lower back pain.
- Cancer pain.
- Fibromyalgia.
- Headaches, including migraines.
- Neck pain.
- Neuropathic (nerve) pain.
Symptoms and Causes
Chronic pain symptoms vary from person to person. But the defining characteristic of chronic pain is that it lasts for more than three months. You may describe the pain as:
- Aching.
- Burning.
- Shooting.
- Squeezing.
- Stiffness.
- Stinging.
- Throbbing.
Chronic pain often leads to other symptoms and conditions, including:
- Generalized anxiety disorder.
- Major depressive disorder.
- Fatigue, or feeling overly tired most of the time.
- Insomnia, or trouble falling asleep.
- Irritability or mood swings.
It’s important to see a healthcare provider if pain is interfering with your daily life.
What causes chronic pain?
Chronic pain is often very complex. Sometimes, it has an obvious cause — you may have a long-lasting condition like cancer or arthritis that leads to pain. Other times, it’s more difficult to find the underlying cause — or there may be several factors contributing to pain.
General types, or causes, of pain include:
- Neuropathic pain: This is nerve pain that can happen if your nervous system malfunctions or gets damaged. Examples include peripheral neuropathy, pinched nerves and trigeminal neuralgia.
- Musculoskeletal pain: This is pain that affects your bones, joints, ligaments, muscles and/or tendons. Musculoskeletal pain often results from injuries (like joint dislocation) or “wear and tear” over time (like tendonitis).
- Visceral pain: This type of pain stems from your organs, like your heart, lungs, bladder, reproductive organs and the organs in your digestive system. Visceral hypersensitivity may make it more likely that you have chronic visceral pain.
- Inflammatory pain: This type of pain happens in response to tissue damage and inflammation. Chronic conditions or short-term illnesses may cause this type of pain. For example, you may have an autoimmune condition like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus that causes chronic inflammation and pain. An infection like shingles can cause postherpetic neuralgia.
- Central sensitization: This type of pain results from changes that occur in your central nervous system. Over time, the changes make you more sensitive to pain and other sensations. Central sensitization can occur with any type of pain and can lead to other symptoms like sensitivity to lights, noises and emotions.
Some people also have chronic pain that’s not tied to a direct physical cause. This doesn’t mean that your pain isn’t real. Oftentimes, this type of pain (psychogenic pain) is related to changes in your nervous system and other understandable emotional and psychological factors.
It’s possible to have several causes of pain overlap. You could have fibromyalgia in addition to back pain from degenerative disk disease, for example.
What are the risk factors for chronic pain?
As many conditions or injuries can cause chronic pain, there are several risk factors for it. In general, some risk factors include:
- Genetics: Some chronic pain causes, like migraines and rheumatoid arthritis, run in biological families (are genetic).
- Aging: As you age, your risk for developing chronic pain increases, especially “wear and tear” causes of chronic musculoskeletal pain.
- Previous injury: If you’ve had a traumatic injury, you’re more likely to develop chronic pain.
- Having a manual labor job: If you have a physically strenuous job, you’re at greater risk for developing chronic pain.
- Frequent or severe stress: Studies show that chronic pain is connected to both frequent stress and post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Smoking: People who smoke are nearly three times as likely to get lower back pain. And smoking may increase pain sensitivity in general.
- Obesity: Having obesity can worsen certain health conditions that cause pain, like arthritis, as there’s extra pressure on your joints.
Acupuncture for Chronic pain in Tokyo
Acupuncture, a cornerstone of Traditional Oriental Medicine (TOM), has been used for over 3,000 years to treat a variety of health conditions, particularly pain. Despite its ancient origins, acupuncture’s mechanisms and clinical effectiveness have only recently been understood in the context of modern biochemistry and neural imaging advancements. This article reviews the mechanisms underlying acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects, explores the scientific evidence supporting its clinical efficacy for chronic pain management, and examines the advantages of incorporating acupuncture into contemporary healthcare practices.
Understanding Acupuncture: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Science
The term “acupuncture” was coined in the 1600s by Jesuit missionaries based on their observations of the practice in China, Japan… Derived from the Latin words acus (needle) and punctura (puncture), the term encapsulates the essence of the procedure, which involves the stimulation of specific anatomical points using fine needles. Acupuncture is traditionally based on the concept of restoring balance to the flow of vital energy and blood within the body. This energy circulates through meridians, or pathways, and disruptions in this flow are thought to lead to pain or illness.
In the context of chronic pain, TOM posits that interruptions in the normal flow of blood and vital energy within the meridians result in pain, either locally or along the meridian pathway. An acupuncturist aims to restore balance by inserting needles not only at the site of pain but also at distal points along the meridians, often located far from the pain area. This is intended to restore normal circulation and alleviate discomfort.
While traditional acupuncture theory offers a holistic framework for understanding its therapeutic effects, scientific research has provided further insight into the physiological mechanisms that underlie acupuncture’s ability to relieve pain.
The Scientific Basis of Acupuncture’s Pain-Relieving Effects
In the last fifty years, scientific advancements in biochemistry and neural imaging have shed light on how acupuncture works at the physiological level. One of the key discoveries in acupuncture research involves the role of the endogenous opioid system in mediating its pain-relieving effects. The endogenous opioid system consists of naturally occurring peptides like endorphins and enkephalins, which bind to opioid receptors in the nervous system to inhibit pain transmission.
In the 1970s, pioneering research by Dr. Bruce Pomeranz demonstrated that acupuncture activates the body’s opioid system. His studies found that electroacupuncture, a technique where electrical stimulation is applied to acupuncture needles, could increase the latency of pain responses in animal models. Specifically, acupuncture increased the time it took for rats to withdraw their tails from a heat source, indicating pain relief. This analgesic effect was blocked by naloxone, an opioid antagonist, confirming that acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects are mediated through the opioid system.
Further research has corroborated this finding, showing that acupuncture stimulates the release of endogenous opioids, which then act to dampen pain signaling in the nervous system. Importantly, these studies have also demonstrated that acupuncture not only affects the peripheral nervous system (the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord) but also has a profound impact on the central nervous system (CNS). Specifically, acupuncture has been shown to modulate neural activity in areas of the brain responsible for processing pain, further supporting the idea that acupuncture’s effects are both localized and centrally mediated.
Over the past two decades, numerous large-scale, randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) have provided robust evidence of acupuncture’s effectiveness in treating chronic pain. Acupuncture has been shown to provide significant pain relief for conditions such as chronic neck and back pain, knee osteoarthritis, and migraines.
The Advantages of Acupuncture in Chronic Pain Management
In addition to its demonstrated efficacy, acupuncture offers several advantages over other forms of pain management. One of the primary benefits of acupuncture is its excellent safety profile. Unlike pharmaceutical interventions, acupuncture carries a very low risk of adverse effects, especially when performed by a trained and licensed practitioner. This makes acupuncture a particularly attractive option for patients seeking non-invasive and drug-free pain management solutions.
Furthermore, acupuncture is cost-effective compared to many other interventions for chronic pain. In oriental countries, where acupuncture is a widely used form of medical treatment, it is often the first-line treatment for a variety of conditions, including chronic pain. A study conducted found that acupuncture accounted for 40% of the healthcare delivered, and it was the primary treatment for 28% of patients surveyed. This level of integration into the healthcare system reflects acupuncture’s affordability and accessibility as a treatment option.
In USA, acupuncture is often considered a complementary therapy, used alongside conventional medical treatments. Its integration into existing healthcare systems could potentially reduce the overall costs associated with managing chronic pain. By offering patients an alternative to expensive medications or invasive procedures, acupuncture could help alleviate the financial burden on both individuals and healthcare systems.
What conditions can be treated with acupuncture?
According to the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), acupuncture can be an effective therapy for individuals dealing with chronic pain, which is pain that persists for more than three months.
For people over the age of 16, acupuncture is particularly useful for treating conditions like chronic widespread pain, also known as fibromyalgia, where the pain is widespread and often accompanied by other symptoms such as fatigue and sleep disturbances. It is also recommended for chronic musculoskeletal pain, which involves pain in the muscles and joints, such as chronic neck pain. Individuals with chronic facial pain, including conditions like temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, can also benefit from acupuncture. This condition often causes pain and discomfort in the jaw and surrounding areas, and acupuncture may help alleviate these symptoms.
Acupuncture is also beneficial for chronic organ pain, including chronic abdominal or pelvic pain, conditions that can arise from various causes, including digestive or reproductive system disorders. By targeting specific points, acupuncture aims to relieve discomfort and promote the healing process.
However, acupuncture is not recommended for certain conditions unless the pain or its impact is considered disproportionate to the underlying cause. For example, chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis, or neuropathic pain (nerve pain) may not be suitable for acupuncture unless advised by a doctor if the pain is especially severe or debilitating.
In addition to chronic pain conditions, acupuncture has been proven effective for treating headaches, particularly for those aged 12 and older. It is recommended for individuals with migraine headaches, especially when standard preventative medications such as propranolol or topiramate are ineffective or cause unwanted side effects. Acupuncture is also used to manage chronic tension-type headaches, which are often characterized by persistent pressure or tightness around the head.
In conclusion, acupuncture offers a versatile treatment option for a variety of chronic pain conditions, including musculoskeletal pain, facial pain, and certain organ-related discomforts. It is also an alternative option for headache sufferers who have not found relief with conventional medications.
Summary
In conclusion, acupuncture presents a promising solution for individuals in Tokyo dealing with chronic pain, offering a non-invasive and drug-free option for pain management. With its growing acceptance in both traditional and contemporary medical practices, acupuncture has proven effective in addressing a range of chronic pain conditions, from widespread musculoskeletal pain to headaches and facial discomfort. As research continues to support its efficacy, acupuncture may play an increasingly important role in helping people in Tokyo manage their pain and improve their overall well-being. By embracing both modern medicine and traditional therapies, patients can benefit from a more holistic approach to managing chronic pain, providing them with a better quality of life and a more balanced, healthier future.
At Fuji Wellness, we offer a personalized and soothing approach to managing chronic pain, helping you rediscover comfort and vitality. Our experienced acupuncturists utilize ancient healing techniques backed by modern science to target the root cause of your pain, providing you with lasting relief without the need for medications. Whether you’re suffering from persistent back pain, headaches, or musculoskeletal discomfort, our tranquil clinic offers a serene environment where you can relax and heal. Trust in our holistic treatments to restore balance to your body and bring you the pain relief you deserve. Experience the healing power of acupuncture at Fuji Wellness – your journey to a pain-free life begins here.
Fuji Wellness:
- Address: 132-0031 Matsushima 1-chome, 21-14, Tokyo, Japan
- Contact: Click here
- Email: sunnyphamsensei@gmail.com
