Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasting over 3 months. It manifests as allodynia, hyperalgesia, and spontaneous pain. Approximately 20% people suffer from various chronic pain, such as chronic cervical pain, brachialgia, headache, lower back pain and cancer pain. Currently, chronic pain represents a major health problem and highlights the need for effective therapies. Acupuncture is generally documented to be reliable and effective in treating chronic pain conditions by inserting needles into specific acupoints and has been popular in many countries. Many previous studies have investigated the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture-induced analgesia and explored its mechanisms. However, high-quality clinical research is limited and the underlying neural mechanisms of acupuncture for chronic pain management remain elusive and controversial.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of papers that investigate the neural mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for chronic pain, which would be useful for estimating the specific neural biomarkers of acupuncture stimulation. In addition, we also welcome studies evaluating the effect of acupuncture and comparing analgesic effects among different inserted acupoints or different acupuncture manipulations. We hope that this Research Topic may improve our understanding of central and peripheral mechanisms of acupuncture for pain management, and therefore, provide a new insight on the clinical application of acupuncture.
Fundamental research, clinical trial, narrative review, and systematic review are welcomed in this Research Topic. Special focus will be given (but is not restricted) to:
1. Effectiveness of acupuncture-induced analgesia by conducting longitudinal or retrospective clinical trials, including RCTs, case-control studies, cohort studies, and cross-sectional studies.
2. Mechanisms of acupuncture-induced analgesia by utilizing the most cutting-edge techniques in neurobiology and neuroimaging:
- Which populations of neurons or signal pathways would response to acupuncture stimulation.
- How does acupuncture modulate structural and functional neural networks.
3. Other open questions for acupuncture-induced analgesia:
- The specificity of meridians and acupoints
- Differences between immediate and long-term analgesic effects
- Different patterns of manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, and placebo analgesia
Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasting over 3 months. It manifests as allodynia, hyperalgesia, and spontaneous pain. Approximately 20% people suffer from various chronic pain, such as chronic cervical pain, brachialgia, headache, lower back pain and cancer pain. Currently, chronic pain represents a major health problem and highlights the need for effective therapies. Acupuncture is generally documented to be reliable and effective in treating chronic pain conditions by inserting needles into specific acupoints and has been popular in many countries. Many previous studies have investigated the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture-induced analgesia and explored its mechanisms. However, high-quality clinical research is limited and the underlying neural mechanisms of acupuncture for chronic pain management remain elusive and controversial.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of papers that investigate the neural mechanisms of acupuncture therapy for chronic pain, which would be useful for estimating the specific neural biomarkers of acupuncture stimulation. In addition, we also welcome studies evaluating the effect of acupuncture and comparing analgesic effects among different inserted acupoints or different acupuncture manipulations. We hope that this Research Topic may improve our understanding of central and peripheral mechanisms of acupuncture for pain management, and therefore, provide a new insight on the clinical application of acupuncture.
Fundamental research, clinical trial, narrative review, and systematic review are welcomed in this Research Topic. Special focus will be given (but is not restricted) to:
1. Effectiveness of acupuncture-induced analgesia by conducting longitudinal or retrospective clinical trials, including RCTs, case-control studies, cohort studies, and cross-sectional studies.
2. Mechanisms of acupuncture-induced analgesia by utilizing the most cutting-edge techniques in neurobiology and neuroimaging:
- Which populations of neurons or signal pathways would response to acupuncture stimulation.
- How does acupuncture modulate structural and functional neural networks.
3. Other open questions for acupuncture-induced analgesia:
- The specificity of meridians and acupoints
- Differences between immediate and long-term analgesic effects
- Different patterns of manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, and placebo analgesia