Acupressure in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease

Prior treatment

• Presence of a concurrent autoimmune or inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, etc. that causes pain or any other chronic pain condition with pain greater than sickle pain.

Other illness

• Diseases/conditions history includes but not limited to:
• Known non-SCD-related severe psychiatric illnesses (e.g. current schizophrenia, major depression with suicidal ideation).
• Significant visual, motor, or auditory impairment that would interfere with ability to perform study visits-related activities

Other

• Recent/ongoing alternative pain management with acupuncture/acupressure or acupuncture/acupressure-related techniques within the last 6 months.
• Head injury with substantial loss of consciousness

• Any gender
• 18-80 (Adults) years old
• Have been diagnosed with SCD and experiencing chronic pain in the past 6 months or vaso-occlusive crisis/crises in the past 12 months.
• Either outpatient or inpatient or status changing between each other
• Willing to limit the current and the introduction of any new medications or treatment modalities for control of pain symptoms during the study visits.
• Willing to stick to the scheduled acupressure treatments every other day for 5 weeks.
• Fluent in English and capable of giving written informed consent.