Acupuncture helps trigeminal neuralgia, and appears a more effective, safer and cheaper option compared with either drugs or surgery, according to research by the School of Medical Sciences, Bangor University. They surveyed 17 studies comparing the drug carbamazepine, with microvascular decompression surgery, and with acupuncture.
Acupuncture had the highest efficacy at 86%, compared with 79% for medication and 72% for surgery. It also had the lowest side-effect rate at 23%, compared with 25% for surgery and 89% for medication. The medication cost twice as much as acupuncture, and surgery cost more than six times as much. Patients also rated acupuncture the least stressful option.
(Acupuncture in the management of trigeminal neuralgia. Acupuncture in Medicine, 10 June 2020.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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