Acupressure Beads for Arthritis

Aug 8, 2011 | By Christy Callahan

Photo Credit Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images

Acupressure is similar to acupuncture; however, acupressure uses pressure from fingers or other instruments to stimulate energy points without breaking the skin. Acupressure beads are often used on the ear, which has a microsystem of points that practitioners say correspond to every part of your body. Some scientific evidence justifies the use of auricular or ear acupuncture-acupressure in managing medical conditions. However, results are not guaranteed. Talk to your doctor before trying auricular acupuncture or acupressure.

Auricular Acupuncture

Not an original component of traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, auricular acupuncture was introduced in the 1950s by a French physician and was soon adopted into traditional training by the Chinese. Often used as an adjunct treatment, auricular acupuncture is performed with needles, beads or seeds as well as gentle, electrical stimulation. Beads and seeds are non-invasive, and are made from a variety of substances. They can be magnetic, made from steel, gold, silver or an actual plant seed. Often coming with a self-adhesive, a practitioner applies beads directly to the ear. In a few days, they will naturally fall off or can be removed.

Auricular Acupuncture Research

Ear acupuncture and acupressure are popular for pain management and other medical conditions. Smoking cessation programs that utilize auricular acupuncture alone or combined with other support methods see positive results. Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, New York, uses ear beads in drug and alcohol addiction programs, and in 1997 successfully added it to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder programs. Auricular acupuncture can also help with rheumatoid arthritis and other painful conditions. An August 2008 study published in "Forschende Komplementmedizin" found auricular electroacupuncture to provide both short and long-term pain relief.

Pain and Arthritis

The points your practitioner selects depend on the area of your pain and other conditions you may have. Pain, according to TCM, is constricted energy, or chi. Chi flows through your body along channels called meridians that correspond to body organs. Stagnating or "stuck" energy results in pain and illness. Arthritis is called "Bi syndrome" in TCM, and is believed to be influenced by climatological factors of wind, cold, heat or dampness. Ear points your practitioner chooses will depend on your symptoms and where the pain is located.

Ear Points for Arthritis

A variety of ear points can be chosen. However, Shenmen, a point located in the triangle formed by the Y-shaped structure in your ear, is the most widely recognized point and is used in most auricular treatments. Skye Abbate's textbook, "Chinese Auricular Acupuncture," also suggests a few more points for pain. The sympathetic point may stimulate dilation of the blood vessels, potentially reducing swelling and pain. The diaphragm, brain and adrenal points may also aid in reducing pain symptoms. In addition, your joints also have specific points; thus, if arthritis affects your knees or ankle, the practitioner can stimulate the corresponding point for greater benefit.

References

• Dr. L.B. Grotte, M.D.: Ear Acupuncture
• "American Journal of Public Health"; Auricular Acupuncture, Education, and Smoking Cessation; I.D. Bier, et al; October 2002
• Lincoln Hospital; Use of acupressure beads in the treatment of ADHD; M.O. Smith
• "Forschende Komplementmedizin"; Adjuvant Auricular Electroacupuncture and Autogenic Training in Rheumatoid Arthritis; M. Bernateck, et al.; August 2008
• Traditional Chinese Medicine Information Page; Healing Arthritis with Chinese Medicine; W. Liu, T.C.M.D., M.P.H., L.Ac.
• "Chinese Auricular Acupuncture"; S. Abbate; 2004

Article reviewed by GlennK Last updated on: Aug 8, 2011

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/511004-acupressure-beads-for-arthritis/#ixzz1ciObLvGf

Certain Painkillers May Raise Odds of Stroke, Heart Attack: Study - US News and World Report

THURSDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- Heart disease patients with high blood pressure who take a class of painkillers called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are at greater risk for heart attack, stroke or even death, new research shows.

NSAIDS include popular medications such as such as aspirin, Celebrex, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve). The results are published in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

"Among coronary artery disease patients with hypertension, chronic self-reported use of NSAIDs was associated with harmful outcomes, and this practice should be avoided where possible," Dr. Anthony A. Bavry, assistant professor in the division of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Florida, Gainesville, said in a journal news release.

In conducting the study, Bavry and colleagues followed 882 long-term NSAID users and almost 22,000 people who used NSAIDs intermittently over an average of about three years.

Patients with high blood pressure and coronary artery disease who took NSAIDs regularly had a 47 percent increase in the rate of death as well as nonfatal heart attack and stroke. After a period of five years, those rates jumped to 126 percent for death and 66 percent for heart attack, the investigators found.

Because there's a lack of data to help researchers understand why people with heart disease and high blood pressure who take NSAIDs are at greater risk for adverse events, the study authors suggested that these patients should consider alternative methods of pain relief until more research is done.

Commenting on the findings, Dr. Howard S. Weintraub, clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and clinical associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, noted that the new study had several strengths.

"It is taken from a large group of patients with coronary artery disease in a generally older population," he said. "But the findings seem to cast more concern about the safety of NSAID's in higher risk patients. It is notable that the risk increased with higher blood pressure."

Still, he added, "one of the concerns about incriminating NSAID's is that the use of certain [cholesterol-lowering] drugs such as statins was lower in the chronic-use group. Hence, their [heart] risk could be expected to be higher. We are also not able to distinguish risk within the class."

"Once again it sounds like it is the length of use or perhaps more accurately the cumulative exposure to this class [that is driving the risk]. This would suggest that more occasional use could be okay," according to Weintraub.

Adding his perspective, Dr. Victor Khabie, co-chief of the Orthopedics and Spine Institute at Northern Westchester Hospital in New York, said that, "as an orthopedic sports medicine specialist I see a lot of baby boomers who use NSAIDs to ease their joint pain with sports. Perhaps acetaminophen or topical agents . . . should be considered in these individuals. Sports medicine specialists should be aware of the potential risk NSAIDs cause in this patient population and counsel their patients appropriately."

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on pain relievers.

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Certain Painkillers May Raise Odds of Stroke, Heart Attack: Study - US News and World Report