Since the 1970s, when Traditional Chinese Medicine brought acupuncture to the United States, Western scientists have wondered exactly how this phenomenon helps people with chronic pain and other health conditions.

It has become popular among American patients, who haven’t waited for the research articles to come out in order to seek the advice and treatment of acupuncturists when things like conventional medicine hasn’t done anything to help cure their pain.

According to a national health survey in 2002, about 8.2 million US citizens have tried acupuncture at least once. This compared to only 2.1 million people who used acupuncture in the year before that.

Uses for Acupuncture

Besides chronic pain, acupuncture has been tried and in some cases has been found to be helpful in treating a variety of conditions, including problems with addiction, headache pain, stroke issues, chronic tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, menstrual cramps, chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis, asthma, infertility, carpal tunnel syndrome, side effects from cancer therapy, and pregnancy-related problems. Continue reading →

You have chronic pain yet you just can’t explain it. Your doctor can’t find it and yet it’s very real to you. You’ve probably been told that your pain is a Somatoform Disorder. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) a somatoform disorder means that your pain symptoms are physical but don’t have any connection to a general medical condition.

So is the pain real? The answer is yes and no. When there is no medical reason found to cause the pain, then pain disorder or somatoform disorder is considered to be emotionally triggered – and yes, psychological pain hurts plenty.

Some of the symptoms of pain disorder are: Continue reading →