 Complications
of Acupuncture
Acupuncture
has received adverse comments in the medical literature on the basis that it may
have serious complications involving: - Needle
quality and sterility
- Puncture
of body cavities and vital organs
- Puncture
of ear cartilage
- Syncope,
nausea, vomiting
- "Needle
lock" and broken needles
- Abortion
- neurological
damage
- pneumothorax
- local
and systemic infections
- puncture
of body cavities and vital organs, second and third degree burns, between others
ítems.
It
is shown that serious complications can arise only from the improper use of acupuncture
or from its gross abuse by incompetent practitioners. The safety of a technique
must be judged on its results in the hands of competent practitioners who use
it properly. If this criterion is accepted, acupuncture is seen as an extremely
safe therapeutic system whose complications very rare and are easily avoided or
rectified.
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