IsobeTetsuya. Medical Acupuncture. August 2014, 26(4): 215-220. doi:10.1089/acu.2013.1000.
ABSTRACT
Background: The routine integration of traditional Eastern medicine with modern Western medicine can be of great benefit to providers and patients. Practitioners of Western medicine who are unfamiliar with herbal medicine and acupuncture would benefit from a set of simple guidelines for incorporating these techniques in the treatment for a number of common complaints.
Materials and Methods: This article introduces a new set of uniquely defined rules (in the form of algorithms) for selection of medicinal herbal preparations and acupoints that can be used by physicians with no prior knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine and examines preliminary outcomes in terms of symptom relief after applying these rules for treatment in a group of 987 female patients with headaches, neck/shoulder stiffness, dizziness, low-back pain, or menstrual cramps. Among these patients, 497 were treated with herbal medicine and 490 were treated with acupuncture.
Results: Overall, the treatments were considered to be highly effective in >80% of cases. Acupuncture was more effective for musculoskeletal complaints (i.e., neck/shoulder stiffness, low-back pain), while herbal medicines had a greater effect on headache, dizziness, and menstrual cramps.
Conclusions: Acupuncture provided a more-rapid onset of symptom relief than herbal medicine.