The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved acupuncture
needles for use by licensed practitioners in 1996. The FDA
requires that sterile, nontoxic needles be used and that
they be labeled for single use by qualified practitioners
only.
Relatively few complications
from the use of acupuncture have been reported to the FDA
in light of the millions of people treated each year and
the number of acupuncture needles used. Minor bruising at
the site of the insertion and rare cases of transient fainty
feeling (4 in 4000 procedures) in people who have a phobia
of the needles have been the only problems I have encountered.
However, a few cases
of major problems have been reported. Two epidemics of Hepatitis
in England and Israel were traced to unscrupulous acupuncturists,
who were reusing unsterilized needles. In our office we
only use sterilized disposable needles. Development of deep
seated infections, puncture of lungs in untrained hands
have occurred rarely. One case of death was reported due
to puncture of the heart by an individual self administering
acupuncture, where the needle passed through a congenital
hole in the breast bone.
However, if compared
to the potential problems associated with every drugs and
surgical procedure, used in our modern medicine, acupuncture
is an extremely safe modality.
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