Acupuncture has an IMMEDIATE effect on hand grip strength

Brazilian researchers looked at the speed with which acupuncture could affect the grip strength of patients. They reported that a session of the traditional Chinese medicinal therapy was able to improve the strength of the treated muscles in a short amount of time.

The study was supported by the IBRATE Technology College. Its findings were published in the African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines.

• The participants consisted of 73 volunteers who were healthy but not athletic. They were divided into three groups: Acupuncture, sham acupuncture, and control.
• For the acupuncture group, 0.25-by-40 millimeter needles were used to stimulate the TE5 (Waiguan), ST36 (Zusanli) and GB34 (Yanglingquan) acupoints. Meanwhile, light needling was applied to non-acupoint spots on the members of the sham acupuncture group.
• All groups underwent the handgrip test before and after the interventions. Both hands of each participant were graded according to their strength with a mechanical manual dynamometer. The average measures of the test were used in statistical analyses.
• Participants who received acupuncture treatment demonstrated a considerable increase (4.78 kilogram-force) in strength. Furthermore, the muscle strength of these participants increased immediately after the session.
• In comparison, the volunteers who underwent sham acupuncture only experienced a much smaller gain in strength. Meanwhile, the untreated control group a small decrease in strength.

Based on the results of the experiment, a single acupuncture treatment session could greatly improve the strength of the gripping muscles of the hand almost instantly, making it a good form of physical therapy.

You can go over the full version of the study at this site. If you are interested in the other benefits of acupuncture, you should try out ChineseMedicine.news.

Journal Reference:

Silvério-Lopes S, Mota MPGD. IMMEDIATE RESPONSE GAIN IN HANDGRIP STRENGTH WITH ACUPUNCTURE: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative medicines. 23 February 2018;15(2):51. DOI: 10.21010/ajtcamv15i2.7.