Qigong for People with Chronic Pain
December 16, 2015 -
Chinese scientists from Lanzhou
University and Shanghai University conducted a systematic review to evaluate the
effectiveness of qigong as a treatment for chronic pain. Five electronic
databases were searched from their date of establishment until July 2014. The
review included 10 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compared the impacts
of Qigong on chronic pain with waiting list or placebo or general care. Random
effect models and standard mean differences were used to present pain scores.
A total of 10 RCTs met inclusion
criteria. There was a statistically significant difference on reducing chronic
pain between internal Qigong and control, external Qigong and general care,
external Qigong and placebo, and internal Qigong for chronic neck pain at 6
months. The differences between external Qigong and control, external Qigong and
waiting list, internal Qigong and waiting list, and external for premenstrual
syndromes were not significant.
This study showed that
internal Qigong generated benefits on treating some chronic pain with
significant differences. External qigong showed nonsignificant differences in
treating chronic pain. Higher quality randomized clinical trials with scientific
rigor are needed to establish the effectiveness of qigong in reducing chronic
pain.
The research is published in the November, 2015 issue of
the American Journal of Chinese Medicine. |