What is Acupuncture Used For?

Acupuncture is used to treat a wide variety of health concerns. A UK wide survey (Hopton et al., 2012) found that musculoskeletal conditions were the most common problems that people sought help from an acupuncturist (back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain and knee pain in that order), with headaches, migraines, stress, anxiety, depression, elbow pain and fertility also ranking highly. Other conditions included digestion, gynaecological, circulatory, skin and 'general'. To discuss your condition please contact us today for a no obligation chat

How can I find out if acupuncture can help my condition?

Please contact us and we will discuss your condition with you. Treatment goals will be agreed drawing on our training, clinical experience, the available evidence base and your own wishes and expectations. If acupuncture is applicable to your condition we normally recommend reviewing the treatment goal after 3-4 treatments in order to assess what might realistically be achieved and in how many treatments, as responses vary from person to person.

What is the evidence for acupuncture?

The Acupuncture Evidence Project (McDonald J, and Janz S, 2017) involved a high quality systematic review of acupuncture clinical evidence for 122 conditions. The review found evidence of effectiveness for 117 conditions, of which 8 conditions were very high quality evidence (allergic rhinitis, chronic low back pain, headaches, chemotherapy-induced nausea, knee osteoarthitis, migraine prophylaxis, post-operative nausea and post-operative pain) and a further 38 conditions with moderate quality evidence. They also found evidence of cost-effectiveness and safety. See the full report or the plain English summary.

Evidence Based Acupuncture is another high quality resource available freely online that consolidates and updates information regarding acupuncture evidence for effectiveness, efficacy, safety etc.

The reputable British Acupuncture Council discuss the research for a range of conditions. See https://acupuncture.org.uk/about-acupuncture/acupuncture-research/



References:
Hopton, A.K., Curnoe, S., Kanaan, M. & Macpherson, H. (2012) Acupuncture in practice: mapping the providers, the patients and the settings in a national cross-sectional survey. BMJ Open, 2 (1), pp.e000456–e000456.

McDonald J, Janz S. The Acupuncture Evidence Project: A Comparative Literature Review (Revised Edition). Brisbane: Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association Ltd; 2017. http://www.acupuncture.org.au




Emma Van Loock Lic.Ac updated 2017