A 42 year old lady was treated with acupuncture for low back pain in the pain clinic at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Welwyn Garden City. Following her first treatment, not only was her back ache improved, but she stated that she had stopped biting her nails. She had not reverted to nail-biting when followed up 5 months after cessation of treatment. S Mahendra Perera MB BS DA Department of Anaesthetics, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital Welwyn Garden City, Herts.
Acupuncture is a well recognised method of providing pain relief.
It is suggested that acupuncture should either be avoided or administered with caution in patients known to be sensitive to morphine or opiate derivatives. Support for the functional existence of acupuncture meridians. The majority of patients reported relief of phantom pain while skin magnets were in situ, but in general this benefit was lost soon after stopping treatment. In two cases the method appeared more effective than morphine, and in a few patients it seemed to have some prophylactic benefit. Timo Toysa MD lisalmen veljeskoti, Pohjolank.