Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2005; 10: 45–6
The aim of this study was to evaluate whole system traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a treatment for women with temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) pain and other health problems.
One hundred and ten women members (aged 25–55 years) of the Kaiser Health Plan were randomised to either TCM (n = 50) or speciality care (n = 60) at the time of referral to the TMD clinic. The TCM protocol was 20 visits at prescribed intervals over 4 months with more frequent visits at the beginning, individualised pattern differentiations at each visit, herb and acupuncture points specified per differentiation, some optional points and herbs, tuina and relaxation. Speciality care (SC) included a visit to a TMD dentist with an individualised prescription; possible treatments included bite splint, education, massage and pharmacotherapy. Outcomes by self-report included VAS pain scales for facial and headache usual pain, worst pain and disability, collected at baseline, 6 and 12 months.
Patients improved over time in both TCM and SC. TCM showed more rapid improvement with treatment than SC, and significantly greater improvement in worst pain at 6 months (TCM minus SC, −1.29 ± 0.48, P = 0.007). The difference from SC diminished as a function of time since last TCM treatment, but continued to provide equivalent benefit. TCM patients showed greater improvement in overall health.
Patients on TCM treatment did better during treatment, but showed some rebound when TCM was no longer available per protocol. Future studies building on the benefits seen during treatment are designed to have treatment timing as an individualised variable.
This project was supported by a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, to the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.
