If you have back, neck or shoulder pain, you can experience lasting relief from symptoms. In over 14 years of practise, we have observed in our patients that the majority of their chronic back pain is caused by muscles which are in spasm. Even arthritic joints are affected by muscle spasm and can be effectively treated
When treating back pain with acupuncture, very fine needles are used to release the muscle spasm, combined with deep and soothing therapeutic massage techniques which enable muscles to return to their normal state.
Inserting acupuncture needles into muscles in spasm seems to have several effects. Firstly, the spasm in the muscle may be released instantaneously and felt as a "twitch" in the muscle. The needles help to draw healing energy into the muscle tissues and promote the flow of blood to take away toxins which may have accumulated in the muscle.
This method of treating back and muscle pain has been used successfully in the U.K. and America for some 30 years. We have trained with one of the leading teachers of this style of treatment and use it extensively in our practise.
The importance of Exercise
If you are susceptible to back problems it is important to be aware of lifting correctly and to do exercises to help strengthen and support your back.
With this in mind, Lois and Tim have written a book about managing back pain through exercise, good diet, supplements and therapy.
The book explains how back pain arises and gives you comprehensive advice on your diet, and gentle yoga/pilates exercises to strengthen your body. You will be able to download an abbreviated copy of this book from our patient website.
25th September 2007 In the Daily Mail and most leading nationals: Acupuncture 'provides twice the pain relief of standard medicine' By SIMON CABLE -
"Back pain afflicts between 70 and 85 per cent of the adult population at some point. Acupuncture is twice as effective at reducing lower back pain than conventional medicines, according to researchers.
But pretend acupuncture, where the needles are inserted less deeply, has also been found to have a similar effect, suggesting that the pain relief could be psychological.
Back pain afflicts between 70 and 85 per cent of the adult population at some point in their lives and accounts for the loss of almost five million working days each year in the UK.
A trial of more than 1,162 people aged between 18 and 86 who had suffered from lower back pain for an average of eight years was carried out by German medics.
They were divided into three groups, each of which was treated with either genuine acupuncture treatment, fake acupuncture or with drugs, pain-killers of physiotherapy.
After six months almost 48 per cent of those undergoing genuine treatment reported at least a one third improvement in their condition.
Just over 44 per cent of those on fake treatment said they felt a similar improvement, contrasted to only 27.4 per cent of those treated with traditional treatment.
The results of the trial, carried out by Michael Haake and a team of medics at the University of Regensburg have been published in medical journal, Archives of Internal Medicine.
"The superiority of both forms of acupuncture suggests a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain generation, transmission of pain signals or processing of pain signals by the central nervous system and that is stronger than the action mechanism of conventional therapy," said Mr Haake.
"Acupuncture gives physicians a promising and effective treatment option for those experiencing chronic lower back pain, with adverse effects or contradictions. "The improvements in all primary and secondary outcome measures were significant and lasted longer after completion of the treatment."
It is the largest known study into the pain-relieving benefits of acupuncture to date.
In traditional acupuncture, 14 to 20 needles are inserted up to 1-1/2 inches deep at "medians" and other prescribed locations until the patient is said to experience a numbing sensation.
Previous trials have also shown the positive effects the treatment can have for treating other body pain, nausea and headaches.
It had previously been believed that the process whereby needles are inserted into the skin, was only effective if the needles were inserted at precisely the right points on the body.
But the study suggests that there are in fact no physical effects at all, and that the healing of pain stems from the patients psychological conviction that they are getting better.
But it is encouraging for the huge numbers of people who suffer with back pain. Between 70 percent and 85 percent of people complain of the condition at some point in their lives, according to the study.
Another study has revealed that 4.9 million working days are currently lost each year as a result of lower back pain."
To book your appointment, please phone us on 024 7634 3100
Your call will always be answered in person, between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday
You may also email us: enquiries@acupunctureclinic.co.uk