Acupuncture in De Quervain's disease: a treatment proposal.

De Quervain's disease is a painful stenosing tenosynovitis of the first dorsal compartment of the hand affecting the tendons of the abductor pollicis longus and extensor pollicis brevis, caused mainly by overuse. Conventional treatments include rest, immobilisation, oral anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroid injection and even surgery, but none of these is established as clearly effective. Acupuncture is rarely mentioned and the points suggested are rather general-regional, tender and ah shi points. Tendinopathy is almost always associated with problems in the relevant muscles and this paper calls attention to the correct identification and needling of the affected muscles, in order to increase the specificity of acupuncture treatment.