Patient Information:
The patient, a 38-year-old female, presented to the clinic with a history of fibromyalgia. She had been experiencing pain for the past five years and had tried various treatment options, including medication, physical therapy, and counseling, without significant improvement. She described her pain as a constant dull ache that intensified during physical activity or stress. She also reported experiencing fatigue, poor sleep quality, and anxiety.
Assessment:
During the consultation the acupuncturist reviewed the patient’s history from past doctor visits. At the prior visits the patient underwent a physical examination, which revealed tenderness in the neck, shoulders, back, and hips. Blood tests and other diagnostic tests ruled out other possible causes of the patient’s symptoms. The results showed no abnormalities, and the patient was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. After talking with the patient about her symptoms the acupuncturist agreed with the findings and developed a treatment plan. This case would require long term treatment but they would initially start with an intensive course of treatments to get the symptoms under control and improve the patients day to day life. This intense course of treatments would consist of 30 treatments. The schedule would be three treatments a week for three weeks and then treatments twice a week for 8 weeks. The remaining five treatments would be once a week. At that time they would switch to the maintenance phase that would involve treatments once every 2-6 weeks depending on the patient’s experience.
Treatment:
The patient received a course of acupuncture treatments for fibromyalgia. The acupuncturist focused on the areas of pain and tenderness, using needles inserted into specific acupuncture points, including the following:
- Bai Hui (DU20)
- Feng Chi (GB20)
- Jian Jing (GB21)
- Qu Chi (LI11)
- Nei Guan (PC6)
- Tai Chong (LR3)
- San Yin Jiao (SP6)
Each session lasted for 20 minutes, during which the patient lay comfortably while the needles were inserted. The acupuncturist used a combination of manual and electrical stimulation to enhance the effect of the needles.
Results:
The patient reported a reduction in pain after the sixth session. After 12 sessions she reported a significant reduction in pain and fatigue. She also reported better sleep quality and reduced anxiety. After 20 sessions, the patient reported that her pain was reduced by 75%, and she felt much more comfortable. She was able to perform daily activities with less discomfort and reported an improvement in her overall quality of life. After the completion of the initial 30 treatments she reported a pain reduction of 90% with only one short flair in the last month month. Her anxiety has been very manageable and the fatigue was gone. She was feeling energized and able to do the activities she wanted to.
Conclusion:
Acupuncture is an effective alternative treatment method for fibromyalgia, as demonstrated in this case study. This method is non-invasive, safe, and has minimal side effects. Acupuncture can be used as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with other modalities such as medication, physical therapy, and counseling.