Acupressure for the Treatment of Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review

Abstract

ABackground: Acupressure involves pressing acupuncture points with a finger or a device and can be used for treating several musculoskeletal pain conditions, including osteoarthritis, lower back pain [LBP], and rheumatoid diseases. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of acupressure for the treatment of musculoskeletal pain. Findings: A total of 180 relevant articles were identified, and four randomized controlled trials [RCTs] met our inclusion criteria. Two of these RCTs tested the effects of acupressure compared to routine therapies in patients with chronic LBP. Pain was significantly reduced in patients treated with acupressure compared to control [untreated] patients. One RCT compared acupressure using electrical stimulation to conventional treatment and reported favorable effects on pain reduction and function in patients with nonspecific sub-acute LBP. Another RCT tested acupressure using aroma oil on pain conditions compared to conventional treatment and showed favorable effects in patients with neck pain. Conclusion: Our results provide limited evidence for the effectiveness of acupressure in the treatment of LBP and neck pain. However, the methodological caveats prevented us from drawing definitive conclusions. J Muscoskeletal Pain Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nyu Medical Center on 06/05/15 For personal use only.F 2. A forest plot of acupressure for LBP showing the pain intensity for acupressure versus physical therapy at (a) post-treatment [four weeks] and (b) follow-up [six months].Kim et al.  J Muscoskeletal Pain Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nyu Medical Center on 06/05/15 For personal use only. Acupressure for Musculoskeletal Pain  J Muscoskeletal Pain Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Nyu Medical Center on 06/05/15For personal use only.

The effectiveness of massage therapy for the treatment of nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review of systematic reviews

“…Kim et al18 identified two RCTs, comprising 275 participants, which reported on the use of acupressure (pressing acupuncture points with a finger or device) for the treatment of chronic low back pain compared to routine physical therapy. Both trials showed significant effects on pain reduction compared to the routine physical therapy.…”

“…The systematic reviews included in this umbrella review ranged from poor methodological quality10,16 to moderate,18,19 good,4,15,20 or excellent methodological quality 17,23. Therefore, we recommend that caution be used when interpreting the conclusions of these reviews, as the primary research relating to massage and non-specific low back pain, for the most part, had a high risk of bias.…”

“…The methodological issues reported by the systematic reviews include small sample size, lack of adequate blinding of assessors, and varied intervention parameters and outcome measures. This is demonstrated by the finding that only one of the nine included systematic reviews was able to undertake a meta-analysis of the included primary literature 18. This was due to the variability in the description of intervention parameters, operational definition of massage therapy, comparators, and outcome measures utilized in the remaining eight included systematic reviews.…”

How Current Clinical Practice Guidelines for Low Back Pain Reflect Traditional Medicine in East Asian Countries: A Systematic Review of Clinical Practice Guidelines and Systematic Reviews

“…Of 5 SR-MAs of manual therapy, 1 considered Chuna [51] , and 4 considered acupressure (including acupuncture massage and Shiatsu) [47] – [50] . All of these SR-MAs were compared with other interventions and reported positive conclusions, except for an inconclusive conclusion reported in 1 study of Shiatsu [49] .…”

Cognitive Dysfunction in the Fibromyalgia Syndrome

“…Finally, a systematic review of acupressure for the treatment of body pain comes from Yongin, Daejeon, and Seoul, South Korea (12). Acupressure can be defined as a method of manually stimulating acupuncture points with pressure using fingers, thumbs, elbows, or a device.…”