title: Long-term therapeutic effects of electro-acupuncture for chronic neck and shoulder pain--a double blind study.
abstract: Thirty-seven patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain were treated with a series of electro-acupuncture treatments. All patients had been unresponsive to previous conventional and placebo treatments for their pain. A double blind evaluation of acupuncture results and hypnotic profiles failed to demonstrate any correlation between the two. Twenty-four or 64.9% of our patients obtained significant long term improvement. An increase in regional microcirculation by peripheral sympathetic blockade from electro-acupuncture is thought to be responsible for the tissue healing and subsequent pain relief.
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck; D059408:Pain Management; D012782:Shoulder