One often-asked question to our San Diego acupuncture staff is “Does acupuncture work for sports injuries?”

I think that’s a fair and necessary question for any athlete to ask their acupuncturist, whether its here in San Diego or anywhere else.
Here’s a quick summary of a couple of sports acupuncture research articles looking at the effects of acupuncture on shoulder injuries.

According to a study published in the medical journal Pain in 1999, physicians at University of Heidelbergin, Germany studied the response of 52 athletes to acupuncture for rotator cuff tendonitis versus a placebo acupuncture needle. The doctors found that there was a statistically significant improvement in the shoulder pain and function of the athletes that had acupuncture for their shoulder rotator cuff injury and pain when compared to the group of athletes that only had the sham acupuncture done.

The acupuncture study followed the athletes over a month while the athletes received treatment for their rotator cuff tendonitis and shoulder injury with either traditional acupuncture or a placebo acupuncture needle. At the end of the 1 month acupuncture treatment perioid, the athletes were re-examined by a group of orthopedic sports doctors that did not know which treatment the athletes had undergone. The sports doctors tested the athletes’ shoulders in regards to changes in pain, A 1999 study published in the medical journal Pain by researchers at University of Heidelbergin, Germany compared the effectiveness of acupuncture for rotator cuff tendonitis against fake acupuncture needles. The researchers found a significantly measurable improvement in the athletes that had acupuncture for their shoulder pain and rotator cuff tendonitis than those athletes that had placebo acupuncture needles

The acupuncture study followed 52 athletes over 4 weeks as they received either traditional acupuncture for their shoulder pain from rotator cuff tendonitis or a sham acupuncture treatments. After 4 weeks, they were then examined by a sports medicine doctor that did not know which acupuncture treatment the athletes had received. The sports doctors tested the athletes’ shoulders in regards to changes in A 1999 study published in the medical journal Pain by researchers at University of Heidelbergin, Germany compared the effectiveness of acupuncture for rotator cuff tendonitis against fake acupuncture needles. The researchers found a significantly measurable improvement in the athletes that had acupuncture for their shoulder pain and rotator cuff tendonitis than those athletes that had placebo acupuncture needles

The acupuncture study followed 52 athletes over 4 weeks as they received either traditional acupuncture for their shoulder pain from rotator cuff tendonitis or a sham acupuncture treatments. After 4 weeks, they were then examined by a sports medicine doctor that did not know which acupuncture treatment the athletes had received. The sports doctors tested the athletes’ shoulders in regards to changes in functional assessment of the shoulder including reported pain, range of motion, and shoulder strength.

The athletes that received traditional acupuncture had over double the improvement of their shoudler function score when compared to the sham treatment group (using the Constant-Murley-score, with a 19.2 point change for the acupuncture group versus 8.37 points for the placebo acupuncture group).

So acupuncture may be an effective treatment option for some athletes with shoulder pain from a rotator cuff injury. If you want to find out more if acupuncture could help your sports injury, talk to one of our San Diego acupuncture specialists at our office by calling 858-678-0300

Related posts:

1. Kinesio Tape, beach volleyball, a shoulder and the Olympics
2. Low Fat Diets May Cause Running Injuries in Women