New research describes how acupuncture may achieve local pain-relieving effects in people with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) while also showing effects of the technique in the brain’s pain centers.
Participants received 16 treatments over 8 weeks. The researchers assessed pain and tingling/pricking symptoms at baseline, following therapy, and at 3-month followup via the Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire. They also used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify points in the somatosensory cortex of the brain that correspond to stimulated wrist/ankle points and assessed median sensory nerve conduction latency.
The researchers found that both true and sham acupuncture reduced CTS symptoms, but true acupuncture was superior in improving peripheral and brain neurophysiologic outcomes.