Acupucture and Risk of Lymphedema

golfer779

I have been seriously thinking of trying Acupuncture to help ease the se's of bone and joint aches in my elbows, hand and wrists due to Arimidex (already have tried Femara).

 My question ... seems to me this might not be such a good idea to have needles stuck in me if it requires any being placed in my "bad side".  I have had 34 lymph nodes removed ... anyone else ???

FloridaLady

golfer,

Best person to ask is Binney on the lymphedema section she is our guru!  Just make sure you use a good clean doctor.  The needles are very thin. I have seen other who say they have done acupucture with know problems.  Like I say ask Binney she is a very lovely lady.

Flalady

jdeking

I have heard just no needles on the bad side... tell your acupuncturist nothing in the arm or chest on the affected side, and you will be fine. It is supposed to be very helpful, and I am also considering trying it!

Good luck!

janine

tiff2008

I've been doing accupuncture now for about 6 months for hot flashes and it seems to be working.  I dont' have any needles put in on my arm of the bc side.

Good Luck, Tiff 

golfer779

Thanks gals ... had a treatment on Tuesday .... no needles to my bc side !!!  Did not feel any huge relief of my joint aches ... but will be going back next week.  Figure like most things, it may take some time.  I'm definitely no worse off ... so thats a good thing

07rescue

One of the greatest advantages of acupuncture is it's lexibility as a modality - you don't need to have any needles placed on yout at risk side to receive the benefits. For pain relief local treatment is often very helpful, and might work a little faster than a more general treatment, but it will still be very helpful.

The joint pain from AIs is very difficult to treat, but acupuncture is one of the very few methods that has been shown to really help in a double blind clinical trial. 

Best of luck with your treatments! 

golfer779

Thanks for your words of encouragement ... had my second txt tonight ... your absolutely right ... no need to actually put and needles on my affected side ... keeping my fingers crossed for some relief !

karen1956

explain...as I am confused...I understand the risk of LE and why to not use needles on BC side...but how does just using the one side transfer to relief on the other side.  I have more wrist pain on the right (BC) side....I've been talking about accupuncture for a couple months, but just haven't gotten around to making the appt...my pcp thinks this is a good idea for some of the side effects...

07rescue

No one has ever been able to explain the mechanism by which acupuncture works, but simply, it does work, which is why it has survived as a modality for thousands of years in Asia. Beside the subjective report by patients of pain and other symptom relief, there are measurable hormonal changes that occur from acupuncture treatments - they are especially good at relieving the stress induced component of whatever ails people. There are usually increased circulating endorphins, lowered blood pressure and cortisol, reduced C-reactive protein, etc. Acupuncture appears to hasten healing of injury for many people as well.

One technique for relief of inflammation and pain when you cannot directly needle the local  area is to use mirror points on the opposite side to affect change on the symptomatic side. So to treat wrist pain on the right wrist, the acupuncturist can use corresponding points on the left wrist. There is also a selection of points around the body that can also be used to relieve pain and inflammation wherever it occurs. The main contraindications to needling locally are infection (you don't want to spread an infection), skin disorders that may be vulnerable to infection, cancer,and lymphedema risk.

I want to mention also that contraindications to getting any acupuncture at all are if you are severely immunocompromised, have a bleeding disorder, are taking anticoagulant drugs such as coumadin or heparin, or are pregnant, especially in the first trimester.

There are acupressure massage techniques that can be equal in effectiveness to acupuncture that use pressing or other stimulation of the points, without the use of needles. Those modalities are especially useful with children and adults who may be very uncomfortable with the idea of needles.

Sorry that no one can offer any intellectual satisfaction on the question of "how acupuncture works", this mystery has defied much investigation, acupuncture may simply employ some body capacity that remains to this day intangible and unmeasurable by our concrete science, like the idea of the "soul". Reasonable people can differ. I hope perhaps at least the discussion helps

golfer779

07rescue .... nicely said !  Couldn't have spit that post out if I had a mouthful !!!!!