We report a case of a 35-year-old woman with fibromyalgia who was successfully treated with acupuncture only after identification of syndromes using the Four Examinations. After working hard for years, she suffered from severe chest and back pain, fever and insomnia. At one hospital, no abnormality was found after detailed examinations. The pain gradually worsened and she was eventually diagnosed with fibromyalgia at a university hospital. She wanted to be treated with Kampo medicine and consulted us. We identified her symptoms as liver qi stagnation, qi stagnation causing blood stasis and qi stagnation damage to yin, and treated with acupuncture mainly using only two shendao (GV 11) and zhaohai (KI 6) points. Pain was relieved by 30% after her 37 th treatment. Her fever also disappeared. Almost no pain was reported by the 91st treatment. A Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire score of 78 at her first examination had improved to 23 by the 82 nd treatment at 17 months, indicating that her QOL had improved.

Patient Care ; Nurses ; Communication