Electroacupuncture Treatments Portland ME

Housecalls - Electroacupuncture, Help for Male Infertility, the Latest on Echinacea

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Acupuncture, Updated

Q Does electroacupuncture offer any advantages over the regular kind?

A If you’ve got neck pain, back pain, or tennis elbow, it might be a better choice. Electroacupuncture is similar to regular acupuncture, with the addition of a low-level electrical current, delivered through the needles, that’s thought to enhance its pain-relieving effects. Its origins are obscure, but some accounts trace its roots to Japan and China in the 1940s and ’50s. Over the past several years, it’s become increasingly popular in the United States.

And in fact, a 2002 study at Hong Kong Polytechnic University found that electroacupuncture worked better than the manual kind at relieving tennis elbow pain. Also, the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia recently published two studies showing that electroacupuncture (in this case, delivered to points on the ear) brought better results to people with chronic neck and lower back pain than did manual ear acupuncture.

According to Tierney Tully, executive director of the National Acupuncture Foundation in Gig Harbor, Washington, electroacupuncture sessions don’t take any longer, aren’t necessarily more or less uncomfortable, and shouldn’t cost any more than regular acupuncture. To find a practitioner, contact local acupuncturists and ask whether they offer the electrical version.

Supplements for Sperm

Q Can any alternative therapies boost a man’s fertility?

A Supplements may be your best bet, since they target problems of sperm quality, the culprit in up to 90 percent of male infertility cases.

A top performer is vitamin C, shown to improve the quality of sperm and keep them from clumping together. Larry Lipshultz, chief of male reproductive medicine and surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, recommends 1,000 milligrams of C per day along with 800 IU of vitamin E. Zinc, too, has stood up well in some small studies. A typical dose is 30 mg twice a day, with 1 to 2 mg of copper. Other promising supplements include selenium, vitamin B-12, coenzyme Q10, arginine, and carnitine.

The last, in fact, got a recent boost from a controlled trial that showed improved sperm motility among men who took 2 grams of l-carnitine and 1 g of l-acetyl carnitine daily for six months. ProXeed, a powdered combo, contains the ratio used in the study.

Echinacea Explained

Q I keep hearing conflicting things about echinacea—is it time to give it up?

A Hang on to your bottle. True, echinacea has gotten some bad press lately. A June study reported that it didn’t reduce the symptoms or length of the common cold, and a 2003 study found it didn’t diminish the length or severity of upper respiratory infections in children.

But Mark Blumenthal, director of the American Botanical Council, says the overall evidence behind the herb is still strong. He notes that the June study used a far smaller dose than previous trials, and that coverage of the 2003 study didn’t mention that the kids who took echinace...

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