jam338

About 2 months ago another FM friend told me she was getting great results for her FM w/acupuncture. I have been doing it now for 2 months w/fairly good results. The Mayo Clinic has clinically tested acupuncture for FM relief (May, 2002-August 18, 2003). You can validate the study results by googling Mayo Clinic Fibromyalgia Acupuncture David P. Martin, M.D., Ph.D. He was the Lead Researcher and is with the Dept of Anesthesiology for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Here is a summary of the test results. The study group was 50 FM patients. Half received acupuncture 2 weekly for 3 weeks. The other half received controlled placebo simulated acupuncture. The testing process, treatment protocol, results are described thoroughly online. Those receiving the actual protocol treatment experienced significant relief with FM symptoms, particularly fatigue; most reported improvements were noticed 30 days after the last treatment. The study recommends regular followup treatments to avoid complete relapse. Those not receiving followup relapsed within about 6-7 months. For me it has helped with fatigue and the burning/searing sensation in muscle tissues, but not quite as much (yet) for shoulder/neck area pain. It has not yet completely eliminated symptoms, but is helping. I have been chronically ill/disabled and not able to work for 2 years. I am still disabled, but more functional...and most of all have been given hope. My treatment here in California SF Bay area is administered by a licensed medical doctor who is Chinese and trained in both eastern and western integrative medicine. Therefore,the treatment costs for me are likely higher since she is a medical doctor; $85 a treatment. I checked costs with other licensed acupuncturists on my area and the cost range was $40-$70 per treatment. I chose this particular doctor because she was personally recommended and has a proven FM treatment track record. Do some checking around and you can likely find services cheaper in your area, just be sure to ask whether the practitioner is aware of the Mayo Clinic FM treatment protocol. And, if not, you can print out the protocol from the website online for them and work out a treatment plan. It diagrams and outlines the exact treatment points/process.