Introduction to Psychology 10th Edition by Rod Plotnik,Haig Kouyoumdjian

Exercise 11

What Would It Be Like Never to Feel Pain?
At the age of 5, Ashlyn Blocker has already experienced many serious physical injuries. She had a massive abrasion to the cornea of her eye, terrible burns, and hundreds of bite marks from fire ants. She also severely damaged her tongue, cheek, and lips, knocked out most of her front teeth, and crushed her fingers in a door frame. Other children would scream in pain from experiencing any of these injuries, but Ashlyn never yelled, nor did she shed a tear. "I can't feel my boo-boos," she said (Tresniowski et al., 2005). Ashlyn is different from most other children because she cannot feel pain. Ashlyn has a rare and incurable genetic disorder called CIPA (congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis). People with CIPA lack pain and temperature sensation yet have no other sensory deficits. These individuals cannot feel pain and temperature because they lack nerve fibers responsible for carrying the sensation of pain, heat, and cold to the brain. Anhidrosis, or the inability to sweat, can cause life-threatening problems such as developing dangerously high fevers because people aren't able to lower their body temperature by sweating. Living life without feeling pain is not as wonderful as one might think. Pain serves an important function by telling our brain that something is wrong and something needs to be done to correct it. Imagine having appendicitis and not feeling pain. Appendicitis is especially dangerous for people with CIPA because they wouldn't know a problem existed until after their appendix had burst. Also, while most people shift their body weight when feeling pain in their joints, CIPA prevents people from sensing this pain and often results in joint problems. Lack of pain sensitivity can lead to other problems including bone fractures and infections. For example, Ashlyn had tonsillitis that went undetected for six months. Despite the daily challenges Ashlyn faces, she looks like an ordinary girl who enjoys doing the same things others her age do. As a child, she liked to swing on the playground and enjoyed being tickled and hugged by her parents. Now, as a teenager, Ashlyn's parents try to encourage her to engage in safe activities, such as band, as opposed to gymnastics. Her parents remain cautious because even though they train her to be aware of warning signs for possible injuries, her inability to feel pain, regardless of any amount of training, places her at an increased risk of injury. Ashlyn has impressed those who know her ever since she was a young child. "There is no reason to think she won't have a normal life," said Dr. Lawrence Shapiro, an internationally recognized child psychologist. Ashlyn's parents say she has the "best laugh in the world" and state "she's going to conquer the world" (Tresniowski et al., 2005).
Question
How helpful would acupuncture be as a treatment for people with CIPA?