Mike CummingsBritish Medical Acupuncture Society
Mike Cummings
MB ChB DipMedAc
About
142
Publications
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Introduction
My principal academic and clinical interest is musculoskeletal pain, and in particular, needling therapies in the treatment of myofascial pain syndromes.
My job role requires me to maintain an interest in all acupuncture research, but particularly clinical research, and reviews thereof.
Additional affiliations
February 2001 - present
British Medical Acupuncture Society
Position
- Managing Director
Education
September 1982 - July 1987
Publications
Publications (142)
Interpreting the effects of sham acupuncture holds the answer
Low back pain frequently presents to medical acupuncturists, many of whom are general practitioners working in the public sector. Under these circumstances there is often limited time to devote to an initial assessment of a patient's presenting complaint. This paper presents an assessment process that is aimed at informing management decisions for...
This chapter defines and describes the condition that is known by the term myofascial trigger point pain syndrome. An outline is given of the current state of knowledge of the pathophysiology of myofascial trigger points, including the latest details from needle microdialysis in near real-time. The clinical features of this pain syndrome are summar...
This issue of Acupuncture in Medicine includes three papers that describe adverse events related to the use of electroacupuncture (EA) ( see articles on pages 88, 143 and 147 ).1,–,3 There are few reports in the literature of such adverse events, and this is likely to be as a result of relative under-reporting of the minor events. More serious adve...
Our wish to know more about the paths taken by electrical currents in electroacupuncture (EA) with special reference to the heart, particularly in patients with an implanted pacemaker, prompted us to undertake this study. Using ourselves as subjects, we have developed a safe oscillographic method to detect, visualise and record the EA currents that...
Background
Over the last three decades, the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using stimulation of auricular vagal sensory nerves by means of electrical stimulation, auricular acupuncture, or acupressure to support weight loss has increased markedly. This systematic review focuses on the effects of auricular stimulation (AS) on anthropo...
Background
Up-to-date recommendations for the safe practice of acupuncture in integrative oncology are overdue with new cancer treatments and an increase in survivors with late effects of disease; 17 years have elapsed since Filshie and Hester’s 2006 guidelines. During 2022/2023 an expert panel assembled to produce updated recommendations aiming to...
The 4<sup>th</sup> Annual Jaseng Academic conference (August 13, 2023) in Seoul, South Korea, was a pivotal event in the realm of integrative medicine. Cohosted by Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine and Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, over 500 professionals including Korean medicine doctors, medical doctors, doctors of os...
Background
The number of randomized controlled trials using auricular stimulation (AS) such as transauricular vagus nerve stimulation, or other auricular electrostimulation or auricular acupuncture or acupressure, in experimental and clinical settings, has increased markedly over the last three decades. This systematic review focusses on cardiovasc...
An international panel including patients, clinicians, researchers, acupuncture and surgery trialists, statisticians, and experts in clinical epidemiology and methodology have developed new guidance for randomised controlled trials in acupuncture. It addresses the most prevalent and critical concerns of current acupuncture trials and will help fund...
(1) Background: Periosteal dry needling (PDN) involves clinicians using a solid filiform needle to stimulate bone for analgesic purposes. This case report presents the use of PDN to the cervical articular pillars (CAPs) in an 85-year-old female with chronic neck pain and headache. (2) Case description: PDN was applied to the right C2–C3 articular p...
Study objective
Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest that auricular stimulation (AS) is safe and effective in treatment of preoperative anxiety; however, a systematic evaluation is lacking. The aim was to summarize the evidence on efficacy and safety of AS for preoperative anxiety, as well as for other outcomes.
Design
We conducted...
Importance:
A pharmacological approach to pain control after cesarean delivery is often insufficient on its own. Acupuncture is a promising method for mitigating postoperative pain and reducing postoperative opioid requirements.
Objective:
To evaluate the efficacy and effectiveness of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for pain control after c...
Sciatica is a condition often accompanied by neuropathic pain (NP). Acupuncture and dry needling are common treatments for pain, and the current literature supports acupuncture as an effective treatment for sciatica. However, it is unknown if the mechanisms of NP are considered in the delivery of needling interventions for sciatica. Our objective w...
Schulterschmerzen sind ein verbreitetes Phänomen mit unterschiedlichen Ursachen. Manche Schmerzsyndrome sprechen gut auf Akupunkturtechniken an, andere weniger. In manchen Fällen ist es unerlässlich, zusätzlich zur Akupunkturbehandlung rehabilitative Maßnahmen anzuwenden, um die Erfolgschancen zu verbessern und eine Chronifizierung zu vermeiden. Da...
Objective
We conducted a feasibility trial of acupuncture in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment. The trial included training radiographers to deliver acupuncture within patients’ routine NHS care.
Methods
Mixed methods pragmatic randomized parallel-group exploratory feasibility trial comparing standard care to standard care plus acu...
Background: The number of randomized controlled trials using auricular stimulation (AS) such as transauricular vagus nerve stimulation, or auricular electrostimulation or auricular acupuncture or acupressure, in experimental and clinical settings has increased markedly over the last three decades. Various clinical scores and self-reported outcomes...
Objective
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of acupuncture/electroacupuncture, alone or combined with other interventions, on pain intensity, pain-related disability, and strength in lateral epicondylalgia (LE) of musculoskeletal origin.
Databases and data treatment
Electronic databases were searched for randomized clinical trials,...
Background: Preoperative anxiety causes profound psychological and physiological reactions that may lead to a worse postoperative recovery, higher intensity of acute and persistent postsurgical pain and impaired quality of life in the postoperative period. Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest that auricular acupuncture (AA) is safe...
Background: Preoperative anxiety causes a profound psychological and physiological reactions, that may lead to a worse postoperative recovery, higher intensity of acute and persistent postsurgical pain and impaired quality of life in the postoperative period. Previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) suggest that auricular acupuncture (AA) is sa...
Introduction:
There has been a burgeoning of research evaluating acupuncture for various symptoms of cancer and the side-effects associated with its treatment. A systematic review was conducted to examine the quality of reporting in published studies of acupuncture in cancer according to the STRICTA (STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinic...
Introduction
A feasibility study of acupuncture for quality of life in cancer patients is planned. The pragmatic randomised controlled trial will aim to assess the feasibility of training radiographers to administer acupuncture to their patients undergoing radiotherapy intended to cure their cancer. The preliminary phase covered in this paper aimed...
Readers of this guideline summary may not be aware of some of the factors affecting the decisions made by the GDG (guideline development group) of NG59. I would like to draw attention to two issues:
1. Different levels of evidence were used for different interventions, with a perceived bias favouring conventional practice
2. Personal financial con...
We believe AiM readers will be interested to learn of the factors that led to negative reporting of the positive study by Hinman et al on acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain.1 The study showed the effects of acupuncture to be significantly superior to no acupuncture and consistent with the best current evidence, but the authors actually r...
Obesity is an increasing global health problem, and current methods of management are limited. Preliminary research data suggest that acupuncture may have an influence on metabolic parameters related to obesity.
To determine the electroacupuncture (EA) protocol to be used in a future clinical trial examining the effect of acupuncture on metabolic p...
Pneumothorax is a well-recognised but rare adverse event related to acupuncture or deep dry needling (DDN) over the thorax.1 ,2 This report of a pneumothorax resulting from DDN is unusual for a number of reasons: both the practitioner and the subject were doctors and both have contributed to this report; the practitioner was very experienced in DDN...
Obesity is one of the leading health risk factors worldwide and is associated with several other risk factors and health problems including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and malignancies. Current conventional therapeutic strategies for obesity cannot achieve adequate weight control in all patients, so complementary types of treat...
It has been suggested that acupuncture may pose particular risks during pregnancy: by enhancing oxygenation to the developing embryo (presumably via increasing blood flow to the uterus); by affecting the level of maternal progesterone in early pregnancy; or by stimulating uterine contractions. This article examines the proposed risks and fails to f...
Electroacupuncture (EA) is becoming more common as a treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain. It can be associated with adverse events related to the small electric currents used, in addition to the adverse events related to needle penetration of tissues. This paper reports a case of minor tissue damage following high intensity EA for 30 min wit...
Background and objective:
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is frequently used in patients in industrialised countries. Despite this popularity, there remains a considerable deficit of discourse and cooperation between physicians practicing CAM and conventional medicine. The aim is to present the methodology and results of the first int...
Acupuncture is increasingly popular, and Woo and colleagues correctly emphasise the need to increase awareness of its side effects and for training and regulation.1But the risk of infection is overstated because the editorial is based largely on anecdotal evidence: a 33 year old review, four case reports, a retrospective case series, and one epidem...
I attended a dinner in November 2005 with Sir Michael Rawlins (chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)) organised by the King’s Fund to explore some of the issues around the assessment of complementary interventions in the NHS. It was a valuable opportunity to gain an insight into policy making processes and pri...
Psoas abscess is a rare condition, and is classified as either primary (haematogenous spread from a distant infection) or secondary (local spread from an infective process). In the past, secondary cases resulting from spinal tuberculosis (TB) were the most common,1 but this has changed with the fall in prevalence of TB in many parts of the world. N...
In October 2000 the German Federal Committee of Physicians and Health Insurers recommended that special Model Projects on Acupuncture (“ Modellvorhaben Akupunktur”) be developed in order to determine the evidence-based role of acupuncture in the treatment of certain illnesses. This paper presents a summary of the main randomised controlled trials p...
Homeopathic medicines are used by many patients with cancer, usually alongside conventional treatment. Cancer treatments can cause adverse effects, and one of the reasons patients use homeopathic medicines is to help with these symptoms. This review looked at whether these medicines could help patients with problems caused by cancer treatments. Eig...
This book is a clear and practical introductory guide to the practice of medical acupuncture. It describes the Western medical approach to the use of acupuncture as a therapy following orthodox diagnosis. The text covers issues of safety, different approaches to acupuncture, basic point information, clinical issues and the application of acupunctur...
Many different styles of acupuncture practice exist, and lack of agreement on the optimal acupuncture treatment for any particular condition may mean that some patients do not receive the best treatment. This uncertainty also makes the negative results of sham controlled trials difficult to interpret. Unless we can be sure that both adequate acupun...
Pain from myofascial trigger points is often treated by needling, with or without injection, although evidence is inconclusive on whether this is effective. We aimed to review the current evidence on needling without injection, by conducting a systematic literature review.
We searched electronic databases to identify relevant randomised controlled...
Recent research has established the efficacy, effectiveness and cost effectiveness of acupuncture for some forms of chronic musculoskeletal pain. However, there are practical problems with delivery which currently prevent its large scale implementation in the National Health Service. We have developed a delivery model at our hospital, a 'high volum...
The field of pain research is rapidly expanding in both human and veterinary medicine, and has helped increase our understanding of acupuncture. However, many are still highly sceptical about the use of acupuncture and prefer for it to remain far from orthodox veterinary practice. This book seeks to challenge common misgivings by showing how veteri...
The aim of this study was to evaluate the evidence for the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of anxiety and anxiety disorders by systematic review of the relevant research.
Searches of the major biomedical databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, ClNAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library) were conducted between February and July 2004. Specialist complementary m...
To evaluate the effects of acupuncture on pain and function in patients with chronic knee pain.
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of adequate acupuncture. Computerized databases and reference lists of articles were searched in June 2006. Studies were selected in which adults with chronic knee pain or osteoarthritis...
Objective
To determine the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for pain and function of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.MethodsA systematic review of randomised controlled trials was performed, including a meta-analysis which combined the results of trials that used adequate acupuncture treatment and used WOMAC scores to measure the eff...
Background
Clinical trials in acupuncture are published in a variety of journals, and it is useful to summarise them in one place.
Methods
We conducted a search of PubMed and Embase for clinical trials of acupuncture with date of entry 2005, and selected randomised controlled trials with clinical outcomes for review. Where possible, the original r...
A 39 year old woman, scheduled for elective caesarean section in her second pregnancy, developed thrombocytopenia. Therefore, at the time of surgery, spinal anaesthesia and non-steroidal analgesic drugs were avoided and she was given a standard general anaesthetic procedure including fentanyl 100 microg and morphine 10 mg. In the early postoperativ...