Acupuncture for Chronic Pain in a Chinese Out-Patient Clinic

Traditional Chinese Medicine at Xian Medical University

One aim of the student elective during medical training is to see different cultural and social aspects of practice. This article concerns a student visit from the University of Wales College of Medicine to the Imperial City of Xi'an in China, which offers a medical school with teaching in both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. The visiting student can learn of the traditional theories and methods of diagnosis and have a chance to see and use treatment techniques such as acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, herbal medicine, Chinese massage and qigong. The Chinese people in general use both Western and traditional medicine, trying one and switching to the other if the first is ineffective, and Chinese traditional doctors make use of Western diagnostic techniques when necessary.

The Use of Acupuncture for Pain Relief in a Chinese Hospital Clinic

This study formed part of a medical student elective and was conducted over a six-week period from April to June in the Acupuncture Clinic of the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin Traditional Medical College, China. It is a descriptive cross-sectional study investigating the painful conditions for which Chinese consult an acupuncturist. The effectiveness of acupuncture as an analgesic was assessed subjectively using a visual analogue scale to estimate the amount of pain before and after treatment. A significant improvement was seen following acupuncture. The patients’ own views on the efficacy of acupuncture in controlling their pain were also noted: this resulted in a mean effectiveness rating of 74.4%.