The book delineates the potentials and limits of acupuncture in the treatment of pain in the context of a modern bio-psycho-social concept of pain therapy. This is realized by an integration of western and traditional Chinese medicine, with the aim to meet the respective other medicine system on the one hand and critical distance on the other. The book consists of two parts. The first part (chapter 2-8) gives the background for both traditional Chinese concepts to pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of pain and basics of the conventional, western approach to pain treatment. The second part (chapter 9-17) gives detailed information for the integrative treatment of all common painful conditions. For every single indication conventional and traditional Chinese treatment options (including Chinese phytotherapy) are shown and the value of acupuncture, scientific data about its efficacy and its possible mode of action (in western-physiological terms) are discussed.

Table of Contents

Part I: The basics 1 Introduction 2 Pain from the western scientific medicine perspective 2.1 Foundations 2.2 Diagnosis of chronic pain 2.3 General treatment guidelines for chronic pain 2.4 Conventional pain treatment 2.5 Western naturopathic approaches to pain treatment 3 Pain from the traditional Chinese medicine perspective 3.1 Basic characheristics of traditional Chinese medicine 3.2 Pathogenesis of pain 3.3 The concept of Bi obturation 3.4 Prevention 4 Diagnosis and differential diagnosis in TCM 4.1 Perspectives in the West and East 4.2 History taking 4.3 Special physical examination 4.4 Syndrome differentiation 4.5 Correlation between western disease categories and syndrome pattern 4.6 Significance of syndrome diagnosis in treatment 5 Guidelines for TCM treatment of pain 5.1 Formulating treatment principles (Zhize) 5.2 Treatment of the 'root' (Ben) and 'branches' (Biao) 5.3 Treatment options 6 Acupuncture 6.1 Definition 6.2 Neurobiological mechanisms of action 6.3 Indications 6.4 Contraindications 6.5 Undesired side-effects 6.6 Techniques and practical application 6.7 Treatment principles 6.8 Warming the acupoints: moxibustion 6.9 Related Techniques 7 Channels and important acupoints 7.1 Channels and acupoints 7.2 Acupoints from a western scientific point of view 8 Further treatment options in TCM 8.1 Chinese Herbal Medicine 8.2 Chinese Dietetics 8.3 Tuina 8.4 Qi Gong PART II: Pain Syndromes 9 Head and face pain 9.1 General principles 9.2 Migraine 9.3 Tension-type headache 9.4 Analgesic-induced headache 9.5 Cervicogenic headache 9.6 Cluster headache 9.7 Temporomandibular joint dysfunction 9.8 trigeminal neuralgia 9.9 Atype facial pain 9.10 Symptomatic head and facial pain 10 Pain in the locomotor system 10.1 General guidelines 10.2 Cervicocephal syndrome 10.3 Neck pain 10.4 Cervicobrachial syndrome 10.5 Shoulder pain (subacromial bursitis, calcific tendonitis) 10.6 Supraspinatus tendinopathy and impingement syndrome 10.7 Frozen shoulder 10.8 Humeroradial and humeroulnar epicondylitis 10.9 Tenovaginitis and tendinopathies 10.10 Spondylogenic thoracic pain 10.11 Chronic low back pain 10.12 Ischialgia/sciatica 10.13 Failed back surgery syndrome 10.14 Piriformis syndrome 10.15 Osteoarthritis of the hip 10.16 Osteoarthritis of knee 10.17 Achillodynia 10.18 Osteoporosis 10.19 Rheumatoid arthritis 11 Fibromyalgia syndrome 12 Visceral pain 12.1 General guidelines 12.2 Angina pectoris 12.3 Functional cardiac pain 12.4 Gastritis 12.5 Functional dyspepsia 12.6 Irritable bowel syndrome 12.7 Chronic pelvic pain 13 Neuropathic pain syndrome 13.1 General guidelines 13.2 Carpal tunnel syndrome 13.3 Meralgia paresthetica 13.4 Intercostal neuroalgia 13.5 Post-herpetic neuroalgia 13.6 Polyneuropathy (PNP) 13.7 Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) 13.8 Central pain 13.9 Stump and phantom limb pain 14 Pain due to vascular disease 14.1 General guidelines 14.2 Raynaud's syndrome 14.3 Peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) 15 Acupuncture in palliative care 15.1 Introduction 15.2 What is palliative care? 15.3 Clinical aspects 15.4 Summary 16 Psychovegetative complaints 16.1 General guidelines 16.2 Practical treatment of psychovegetative complaints 17 Psychosomatic aspects of pain therapy 18 Afterword