acupuncture

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NYC Man Charged With Unlicensed Acupuncture Gone Wrong

Prosecutors say man who never applied for license collapsed both his patient's lungs

(Newser) - A New York City man has been charged with performing acupuncture without a license after he punctured a woman's lungs during treatment, sending her to a hospital for emergency surgery, prosecutors announced. Yong De Lin, 66, was arraigned on four criminal charges Monday in connection with unlicensed treatments he...

Acupuncture Needle Pulled From Guy's Stomach After 40 Years

He'd received the treatment for pain in 1974

(Newser) - It was 40 years ago that Xu Long had acupuncture to relieve stomach pain, and "the pain stopped immediately," he tells Central European News. But the treatment appears to have come with some serious complications. Xu had more recently been suffering from new pains in his back and...

Brazilian Alligator Gets ... Acupuncture?

It's a practice becoming more and more common with animals

(Newser) - Bino's back was killing him. He was suffering from scoliosis. He couldn't move his legs, two of them anyway, and his tail just wouldn't swish. What's an albino alligator in that sort of health bind to do? Acupuncture, naturally. Bino lives at the Sao Paulo Aquarium,...

Male 'Virginity Test' Helps Free 3 in Rape Case

Ears never lie, says Vietnamese acupuncturist

(Newser) - Men who have small red spots on the back of their ears are invariably virgins, according to celebrity Vietnamese acupuncturist Pham Thi Hong. Hong fought to free three convicted rapists from prison after she discovered that the men had the spots, the AP reports. Hong's determination to have the case...

Scientists Try to Solve the Mystery of Acupuncture

Researchers use modern medicine to test ancient therapy

(Newser) - Western researchers are using high-tech tools to unlock the secrets of an ancient therapy: acupuncture. Neuroimaging studies show the practice can calm parts of the brain linked to pain and activate those linked to recuperation. Doppler ultrasounds, meanwhile, show that acupuncture increases blood flow. Carefully placed needles can even make...

Study: Even 'Fake' Acupuncture Eases Back Pain

Back pain sufferers reported less pain with or without needles being used

(Newser) - Acupuncture without the puncture helped relieve back pain in a new study, Reuters reports. Researchers divided patients with chronic back pain into several groups and discovered that the groups who received conventional acupuncture with needles and those who received simulated acupuncture with toothpicks reported greater—and almost identical—pain relief...

Pentagon's New Painkiller: Ancient Chinese Medicine

Military doctors will start training medics in 'battlefield acupressure'

(Newser) - US Air Force doctors deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan next year will have a new medical weapon in their arsenal: acupuncture. Military physicians, pleased with the success of treating wounded troops at home, will begin teaching battlefield medics how to fight severe or chronic pain by inserting tiny needles under...

Acupuncture Reduces Post-Op Pain: Studies

Patients needed less medication, had fewer side effects

(Newser) - Acupuncture before or during surgery can reduce post-operative pain, researchers have found. Patients who received the nontraditional treatment reported less pain after various surgeries, needed less pain medication and suffered fewer side effects from the medication they took, according to 15 clinical studies reviewed by the team. "The use...

Even Fake Acupuncture Best for Back Pain

Chronic sufferers find relief in treatment

(Newser) - Acupuncture has a far better success rate than other treatments for patients with chronic lower back pain,  and fake acupuncture is nearly as effective as the real thing, a new study has found. Normal medical treatment produced significant improvement in 24% of people, while 47% of acupuncture patients felt...

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