Short term pain reduction with acupuncture treatment for chronic orofacial pain patients

Acupuncture has been used for treatment of many pain conditions. National Institutes of Health (NIH), in its consensus statement on acupuncture of November of 1997, states that promising results have been shown for postoperative dental pain. NIH states that in other situations such as myofascial pain, acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative treatment. The vast majority of chronic orofacial pain conditions are temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Myofascial pain is one of the most common TMD's. TMD's are a set of musculoskeletal disorders affecting the temporomandibularjoint, masticatory muscles or both. TMD's are comprised of diverse diagnoses with similar signs and symptoms affecting the masticatory system that can be acute, recurrent or chronic conditions. TMD's are rarely life threatening, but can impact heavily on a person's quality of life. Few studies have been done on outcomes of acupuncture treatment for chronic orofacial pain.

A chart review of 29 patients (twenty two females and seven males), age 22 to 60, who had acupuncture treatment for chronic orofacial pain was completed. Patients had rated their pain before and after acupuncture treatment on a numerical analog scale.

The mean value of pain sores before treatment was 5.28 and after treatment was 2.26. There was a significant difference of pain scores between before treatment and after treatment (Wilcoxon signed rank test, P < 0.0001).

Acupuncture provided a significant short-term pain reduction in patients with chronic Orofacial pain.