This review of the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treating temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD) included 32 RCTs. The findings suggest potential benefits for acupuncture compared with both active and inactive controls. However none of the studies were at low risk of bias and the certainty of the evidence was rated as very low to low. Consequently the findings should be interpreted cautiously.
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This update of a Cochrane review of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for the management of gagging in people undergoing dental treatment found very low-certainty evidence from four trials that was insufficient to conclude if there is any benefit of acupuncture, acupressure or laser at P6 point in reducing gagging and allowing successful completion of dental procedures.
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Edzard Ernst shines a light on the unfounded claims presented in a meta-analysis published today on acupuncture for amnestic mild cognitive impairment.
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GPs Tom Rowley and Michael Horsfield write their debut MSK Elf blog on a recent systematic review, which investigates the most cost-effective interventions for the management of whiplash-associated and neck pain-associated disorders.
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This Cochrane review was only able to identify a single small RCTs of acupuncture to reduce gagging during dental treatment. This was insufficient to conclude any benefit. No evidence of other interventions was identified.
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Some of our Elf friends who are regular swimmers have been suffering from sore shoulders. One of them has been diagnosed as having subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS). In this blog, Tracey Howe considers a best evidence review on SIS effectiveness of physiotherapy and manual therapy.
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Despite being on the decline, smoking is still one of the largest causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the world. According to recent World Health Organisation data, smoking directly kills around 5 million people every year. The NHS spends almost £90 million on cessation efforts to combat the £5 billion treatment cost. Recent research [read the full story…]
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies are often perceived to be as effective as conventional treatments, more “natural”, less expensive, have fewer side-effects and are easily available without a prescription. But do these perceptions match up with the reality? Can CAM therapies be helpful additions to conventional treatments? This alludes to an interesting sociological question [read the full story…]
It has been estimated that between 10-26% of men and 10-33% of women experience dry mouth. The subjective sensation of dry mouth is called xerostomia and can be found in people with normal salivary gland function. The normal range of salivary production ranges from 0.5 to 1.5 litres per day. The aim of this Cochrane [read the full story…]
Drooling is a common problem for children with cerebral palsy (CP). Drooling varies in severity and can be distressing for the children, families and caregivers. It can cause chapped or sore skin around the mouth and chin, skin and mouth infections, dehydration, difficulties chewing and a range of other social issues. The main aim of [read the full story…]
