Fibromyalgia Treated with Acupuncture

Pain Med. 2018 Sep 1;19(9):1862-1871. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnx322

Randomized Controlled Trial of Acupuncture for Women with Fibromyalgia: Group Acupuncture with Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis-Based Point Selection.

Mist SD1, Jones KD1.

Full article here

Although the number of patients included in this study is not very big, it uses not some specific acupoints for all patients but chooses acupoints according to each patient's TCM diagnosis. I would highly recommend this kind of treatment since no two patients are the same in the eyes of TCM doctors.

For FM treatment, the combination of herbal medicine and acupuncture is usually more effective.

I'm a Licensed East Asian Medicine Practitioner in Washington, USA

I'm a Licensed Acupuncturist in Wisconsin, USA

For Patients Who Don't Speak Mandarin

If you plan to come by taking a taxi or bus, you can download this photo to your smartphone or print it out in order to show the driver either Neihu main facility or Tingchou branch that you want to visit. It will be easier for you to find the place. Taxi/bus drivers in Taiwan are usually very patient and polite.

When you arrived, tell the counter you want to see Dr. Hsieh in TCM department or show them this photo. It's better to email me first so that I can help you save some time with registration. Thank you!

Female Infertility Clinical Case

Earlier this year, I'm glad to hear that one of my patients has finally successfully conceived her first baby.

She was 28 years old. She came to my clinic room in November 2016. After more than 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse, she couldn't get pregnant. She didn't go to modern medicine doctors to do regular check up because she thought she's relatively healthy and wanted to try acupuncture first. Although her parents are Taiwanese, she grows up in the southern hemisphere. Therefore, acupuncture is more easily accepted than herbal medicine for her. She came regularly twice a week for acupuncture and moxibustion, the acupoints I use is as follows:



However, in our daily practice, for the male/female infertility problem, we would often prescribe herbal medicine, even decoction, for our patients to adjust their body constitution back to balance with or without acupuncture.

After two times failure, which means her menstruation came twice, I suggested her to try herbal medicine combined with acupuncture.

Here's the formula I made for her, including 10 herbs. The formula may be partially adjusted according to her clinical condition each time she returned. Please don't copy this formula for anyone with female infertility. The spirit of TCM prescription is highly customized. Everyone gets their own formula according to their body constitution and current condition.

Her menstruation didn't come for the third time after we met. I was so glad when she told me that she got pregnant. It's worth the effort to make it possible for her to come twice a week. She has a full-time job in Taipei. The credit goes to her perseverance of non-stop trying since the body constitution needs some time to be balanced.

We've treated male and female patients with infertility problem, everyone's case is unique. We evaluate and determine their body constitution and treat them accordingly. Although it's hard to conduct a large scale clinical trial of the TCM effect on infertility or other diseases, I hope with the useful TCM theory and the accumulation of clinical experiences, I can help more and more people with their health issue. 😄

2017 February New Patients

39 New Patients / 246 total

Skin Problem

Seborrheic dermatitis   M

Acne   M

OBGYN Problem

Delayed menses   M

Postpartum weight gain    M / A

Postpartum depression   M / A

Internal Medicine problem

Abdominal distension   M
Abdominal pain   M
Benign prostatic hypertrophy  M
Dry mouth  M

Chest tightness / Palpitation  M
Constipation  M
Cough   M
Dizziness   M / A

Fatigue   M
Frequent urination  M
Headache   M / AC
Insomnia   M / A

Liver cirrhosis with ascites   M
Obesity    M / A

Sjogren’s syndrome     M / A

Musculoskeletal & Neural Problem
Carpal tunnel syndrome   M / A

Elbow pain & numbness   A / M

Low back pain   M / A / M+C
Neck stiffness (Torticollis)   A / C
Stroke with hemiplegia   M / A
Trigger finger   A / C

Thigh tightness / pain   A / C

Others

Bad breath / halitosis  M
Cold limbs  M
Delayed ejaculation   M
For better nutrition / Gaining weight for toddler   M

Mouth Ulcer   M

  

*The purpose of this list is to let people know when would Taiwanese come to TCM doctors for help, since TCM might not be so popular in some countries. To protect the privacy of patients, the patients' information is altered. 
M: herbal medicine   A: acupuncture  M: Manipulation  C: Cupping

2017 January New Patients

41 New Patients / 265 total

Since I'm getting busier, instead of making weekly lists of new patients, I will make new patient lists monthly starting this January. I hope I can share more TCM research articles in this blog so as to form a habit of journal reading. This is one of my goal in 2017! Cheers~

Skin Problem
Acne M
Acalp acne M
Hand Eczema M
Seborrheic dermatitis M
Skin rashes over whole body M

Gyencology Problem
Dysmenorrhea M
Vaginal discharge M
Recuperation after artificial abortion  M

Internal Medicine problem
Abdominal pain   M
Allergic rhinitis   M
Constipation  M
Chest tightness for decades   M
Cough   M
Chest pain   M
Diarrhea for 3 days   M
Frequent urination  M
Headache M / AC
Incontinence after lithotripsy   M
Running nose after sport and hot drinks   M
Sore throat   M

Musculoskeletal & Neural Problem
Elbow numbness   A / M
Facial palsy   M / A
Hip pain for 1 month  M / A / M
Heel pain for 6 months  M / A / M
Knee soreness/knee pain for several months  M / A / M
Left limb numbness due to spondylolisthesis  M / A
Low back pain   M / A / M+C
Neck stiffness (Torticollis)  A / C
Stroke  M / A
Shoulder/neck pain  M / A / M / C
Tennis Elbow  M / A
5th metatarsal bone fracture  M / A

Others
Cold limbs  M
Easily bite her mouth  M
Lower limbs swelling  M / A

*The purpose of this list is to let people know when would Taiwanese come to TCM doctors for help, since TCM might not be so popular in some countries. To protect the privacy of patients, the patients' information is altered. 
M: herbal medicine   A: acupuncture  M: Manipulation  C: Cupping