Undergoing surgery is difficult enough, between worrying about the actual procedure, worrying about what the surgeon may find or do, and of course, worrying about pain after the surgery. And, for many people (up to 80%), comes worry about being nauseous and vomiting after surgery. This nausea and vomiting doesn’t affect everyone, but it’s not an unusual complication after surgery and it’s due to the anesthetic.

Acupressure, similar to acupuncture but using pressure points instead of needles, has been found to be successful in helping many people relieve pain and other discomforts, so researchers wanted to see if they (acupressure and acupuncture) could help relieve the nausea and vomiting.

According to an article from Health Behavior News Service, Wrist Acupuncture or Acupressure Prevents Nausea From Anesthesia, “The pericardium [membranes that surround the heart] (P6) point is in the wrist and its stimulation prevents nausea and vomiting.”

Using acupuncture or acupressure on this P6 point was reviewed in several studies that had looked at this. Researchers found:

The studies used 10 different methods of P6 stimulation, such as needle acupuncture, laser stimulation, transcutaneous (through the skin) nerve stimulation and acupressure wristbands. They used five different antiemetic drugs.

“Of the 40 trials included, the most common method of stimulation was wristband alone, in 17 studies,” [Anna] Lee [of the Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care at The Chinese University of Hong Kong] said. “The wristbands used to prevent both postoperative nausea and vomiting are the same sold for seasickness, travel sickness, morning sickness and chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting.”

If nausea and vomiting can be controled in this way, the use of medications to do this could drop drastically.

~~~~

Image: Courtesy PhotoXpress.com

We all know acupuncture as an old medical procedure that originated in China — a practice of inserting thin needles into specific body points to improve health and well-being.

Now, new data from a randomized, controlled trial found that acupuncture provided significant reductions in pain, dysfunction, and dry mouth in head and neck cancer patients after radical neck dissection.

According to David Pfister, MD, Chief of the Head and Neck Medical Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) — who led the study and who presented the results at the ASCO Annual Meeting:

“Chronic pain and shoulder mobility problems are common after such surgery, adversely affecting quality of life as well as employability for certain occupations.

Nerve-sparing and other modified radical techniques that preserve certain structures without compromising disease control reduce the incidence of these problems but do not eliminate them entirely.

Unfortunately, available conventional methods of treatment for pain and dysfunction following neck surgery often have limited benefits, leaving much room for improvement.”

While Barrie Cassileth, PhD, Chief of the Integrative Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), said:

“Like any other treatment, acupuncture does not work for everyone, but it can be extraordinarily helpful for many.

It does not treat illness, but acupuncture can control a number of distressing symptoms, such as shortness of breath, anxiety and depression, chronic fatigue, pain, neuropathy, and osteoarthritis.”

Read more the MSKCC News.