Acupressure for Broken Wrist Pain

Acupressure may be effective at reducing pain in patients with wrist fractures en route to the hospital, a new study reports.

Acupressure is the practice of applying finger pressure to specific acupoints throughout the body. It has been used in China since 2000 BC, prior to the use of acupuncture.

Acupressure techniques are widely practiced internationally for relaxation, wellness promotion and the treatment of various health conditions. Multiple human studies suggest effectiveness of wrist-point acupressure for treating nausea. Additionally, acupressure has been deemed effective for pain management by the National Institutes of Health.

Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria explained that pain during transportation is a common phenomenon in emergency medicine.

The study evaluated the effectiveness of acupressure in prehospital patients with isolated distal radial fracture (a broken wrist). In the prospective, randomized, double-blind study, 32 patients were enrolled. Acupressure was performed either at "true" points or at "sham" points. Vital signs and pain and anxiety scores were recorded before and after the acupressure treatment.

The study found that pretreatment scores for pain and anxiety were similar in the two groups. At the hospital, patients in the true-points group had significantly lower pain and anxiety scores.

The study authors concluded that acupressure in the prehospital setting effectively reduces pain and anxiety in patients with distal radial trauma.

Several traditional Asian medical philosophies consider health to be a state of balance in the body, which is maintained by the flow of life energy along specific meridians. A disease state is believed to occur when energy flow is blocked, is deficient or in excess. A goal of acupressure is to restore normal life energy flow using finger and palm pressure, stretching, massaging and other bodywork techniques. It is believed that there are 12 primary channels and eight additional pathways circulating life energy throughout the body, maintaining the balance of yin and yang.

The mechanism of action may be similar to other techniques such as acupuncture (stimulation of acupoints with needles), moxibustion (burning with a stick including dried mugwort leaves) or other forms of manual stimulation. Techniques that involve soft tissue manipulation may have similar effects on the body as therapeutic massage.

For more information on acupressure, please visit Natural Standard's Health & Wellness database. 

Comments

[Hank]

What acupressure points did the researchers use? Did it involve applying pressure to the injured wrist or some other area of the body?

[Stella]

They used pressure points on the head (GV20 - Baihui) and on the hand (LI4 - Hegu). It makes sense in this case to try something like this. Apparently in Europe, analgesic medication can only be administered by the physicians, so using acupressure allows the paramedic to administer some sort of treatment to relieve pain while en route to the hospital.

[Jay]

Applying acupressure to fractured areas sounds risky. Shouldn't the fractured area be kept as still as possible to avoid further injury? If this is truly effective though, it is probably very helpful for people who are experiencing a lot of pain after an injury. At least it provides some sort of temporary relief.

[Marilinda]

Does acupuncture require movement of the body part? I think this treatment can be applied while the patient lies still.

[Jen]

I'm skeptical of the actual effectiveness of acupressure and related therapies because it is very difficult to create a quality study to get valid results on this subject. But on the other hand, I have found that applying pressure to the soft part of your hand between your forefinger and thumb works really well. If you ever get one of those headaches that doesn't seem to come from anything in particular, massaging that area of your hand for a few minutes really does help!

[Jason]

Another interesting study from the Vienna: Acupressure applied to points on the ears was shown to decrease pain in hip fracture patients being transported to the hospital by ambulance.

Barker, et al.
Out-of-hospital Auricular Acupressure in Elder Patients with Hip Fracture:
A Randomized Double-Blinded Trial
ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2006; 13:19–23.

[Rihanna]

I guess something is better than nothing, although I wonder if for some patients, being poked in the head wouldn't be more irritating. Even if the acupressure did cause pain or irritation, at least it would distract you from the broken wrist pain.

[Hank]

Stella,

Thanks for the clarification. It makes a lot more sense that acupressure points at different points in the body (other than the broken wrist) would be used.

[Alison]

Rihanna,

I don't think acupressure is supposed to cause pain or irritation. I've never had it done before though, so I'm not an expert.

[Marley]

The idea of acupressure is relatively new to me. It sounds very interesting. What other types of pain has it been used for?

[Ben]

Jen,

Thanks for the tip on how to relieve a headache with acupressure. I actually tried this the other night, and it worked!

[Joshua]

My thanks to Stella too! When I first saw this story, I was thinking how effective or safe could it be to apply acupressure to a fractured area? I don't know too much about acupressure, but I think it is very interesting that applying pressure to one part of the body affects another. I have to try the acupressure technique Jen talked about for headaches. I guess it is a good idea to try that before taking a pain reliever.

[Tina]

So, to be clear, the difference between acupuncture and acupressure is that acuPUNCTURE is done with needles and acuPRESSURE is with fingers? Do these two practices target the same points on the body for the same therapies?

[Cara]

Alison,

Acupressure has been used for all kinds of medical conditions, not just pain. Good evidence suggests that it can help relieve nausea and motions sickness. In addition, inconclusive evidence suggests that it may help treat a wide range of health problems, such as anxiety, asthma, shortness of breath, headache, sleep apnea, and labor pain.

[Tiff]

Tina,

I think you are right. From what I understand, both acupuncture and acupressure stimulate the same acupoints. These therapies are based on traditional Asian medical philosophies that consider health to be a state of balance in the body that is maintained by the flow of life energy along specific meridians. A disease is believed to occur when energy flow is too low, too high or blocked.

Acupressure aims to restore normal life energy flow by using finger and palm pressure, stretching, massaging and other bodywork techniques. It is believed that there are 12 primary channels and eight additional pathways circulating life energy throughout the body, maintaining the balance of yin and yang.

[Franz]

It sounds like acupressure could probably work for other types of fracture pain. When you're transporting someone in pain to the hospital, you can feel helpless because there isn't much that can be done to make them feel better. So, it's definitely good to learn about new therapies like this.

[Curious]

This is fascinating to me. I haven't really heard much about acupressure before. Could you get acupressure done just to help relieve stress and tension? If so, how do you go about finding someone who practices this therapy? Can anyone practice acupressure, or do they have to go through a program to get certified?

[Doug]

I have also heard that applying pressures on different parts of the hands and feet controls different parts of our bodies and has helped people, whether it be a headache or back pain, etc. So there is definitely some truth to all of this, but we just need to find more evidence.

[Eliot]

Is acupressure safe for everyone? What if you're pregnant? Cara mentioned it's been used to treat labor pains, but I wonder if it's considered safe for pregnant women.

[Rita]

In response to Eliot, I am not sure whether acupressure is safe for pregnant women or not, but I think it is a great alternative to pain medication. I often hear that some women want to use something other than drugs to treat their pain and I think acupressure sounds great. Anyone know about any research concerning this?

[Gary]

Cara, you mentioned some other uses for acupressure that I didn’t know about. Do you or anyone else know if it can be used as a general relaxation method like massage?

[JP]

To answer Gary's question, yes, acupressure is often used for relaxation in the form of massage. I have had it done, and it feels very good while it's happening. However, I did not observe any last effects. I have never had a deep tissue massage or any other "traditional" type of massage, but I believe the idea is for the massage to make back pain better, relieve stress, etc. And while acupressure feels wonderful when you are getting it, I have not, personally, felt better overall after an acupressure massage.

[Shannon]

The concept of using acupressure to relieve broken wrist pain is a novel one! I’m wondering what other types of pain it has been found to help. It was also interesting to read that wrist-point acupressure can treat nausea. I’ve often used those motion sickness wristbands when I travel long distances in boats, planes or cars, but I never fully understood why they worked. It’s amazing that all it is, is applying pressure to specific pressure points.

[Neil B.]

Are acupressure and acupuncture at all related? The article does mention that they may be similar, but I wonder if they use the same pressure points, target the same things, etc.? I know that acupuncture and massage have often been used to help ease pain for cancer patients and others with chronic pain and diseases. If acupressure could be similarly used to ease pain for these patients, it may be a good alternative, specifically one they could learn and do at home. If there could be more education, as well as more studies on how this may or may not relate to other illnesses and conditions, it may be able to drastically improve people’s lives.

[Molly S.]

The results of this study are really interesting, and they could be revolutionary if they prove true. I’m just hesitant that using only 32 patients for the study is sufficient to actually prove that acupressure really works. Also, measuring its effect based on the pain and anxiety scores of the patients may not be entirely accurate, seeing as though pain is subjective. There is no way to accurately prove that the acupressure alone improved the pain. It could have been merely human contact or the extra attention the patients felt they were receiving.