Researchers say biweekly acupuncture treatments relieve debilitating symptoms of severe dry mouth (xerostomia) that patients treated with radiation for head and neck cancer often experience.
A team from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which included an acupuncturist from the Centers Integrative Medicine Program, conducted a pilot study on 12 patients with xerostomia who had completed radiation therapy at least four weeks earlier.
They were given two acupuncture treatments each week for four weeks on the ears, chin, index finger, forearm and lateral surface of the leg, and the researchers noted highly statistically significant improvements in symptoms.
“The quality of life in patients with radiation-induced xerostomia is profoundly impaired, [and] conventional treatments have been less than optimal, providing short-term response at best,” says Dr. Mark S. Chambers, a professor in the Department of Dental Oncology and the studys senior author.
“[However] patients with severe xerostomia who underwent acupuncture showed improvements in physical well-being and in subjective symptoms,” he added.
Acupuncture is a health resource based on the ancient Chinese practice of inserting and manipulating very thin needles at precise points on the body to relieve pain and restore health.
Traditionally, stimulating these points is believed to improve the flow of vital energy through the body.
Contemporary theories about acupunctures benefits suggest needle manipulation stimulates natural substances that dilate blood vessels and increase blood flow to different areas of the body.
