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Serving Solihull Birmingham West Midlands UK What the World Health Organisation say about Acupuncture The World Health Organization (WHO), whose authority concerning health-related matters internationally cannot be challenged, has compiled a list of symptoms, syndromes, disease processes, pathologies, traumas and conditions that have definitely been proven as effectively treated by acupuncture. The WHO has also compiled a list of diseases, symptoms and conditions for which acupuncture has shown definite therapeutic effects, but more proof is needed to establish acupuncture as a mainstream form of treatment. Should a curious patient, insurance company or colleague require proof of acupuncture's effectiveness, the following list is something you will want to keep on file. Its use will be inevitable.
In an official report, Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials, the WHO (WHO) has listed the following symptoms, diseases and conditions that have been shown through controlled trials to be treated effectively by acupuncture. The Top 3 listed indicate how they veiw the potency of acupuncture for back pain:
low back pain
neck pain
sciatica
tennis elbow
knee pain
periarthritis of the shoulder
sprains
facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
headache
dental pain
tempromandibular (TMJ) dysfunction
rheumatoid arthritis
induction of labor
correction of malposition of fetus (breech presentation)
morning sickness
nausea and vomiting
postoperative pain
stroke
essential hypertension
primary hypotension
renal colic
leucopenia
adverse reactions to radiation or chemotherapy
allergic rhinitis, including hay fever
biliary colic
depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
acute bacillary dysentery
primary dysmenorrhea
acute epigastralgia
peptic ulcer
acute and chronic gastritis
15 very helpful Tips For Back Pain Sufferers If you are currently suffering back pain try to adopt these tips to help you between your Acupuncture treatments: Some Good Advice for Back Pain sufferers 1 Stay flexible
Desk-bound workers should get up every 20 minutes, even if it’s just to get a glass of water. Lack of mobility is the most common cause of back pain in men and it doesn’t take a Nobel Prize in medicine to work out that slouching over a keyboard for hours will make you stiff. Talk to your personal trainer about a stretching routine for the spine.
2 Stay strong
Go swimming – it’s great for back stability training. Working against the resistance of the water builds strength and tones the body, but because it’s not weight-bearing there’s no risk of impact injuries or muscle strains. Front crawl is especially good for your lat muscles. Rowing – either on rivers or the gym machine – is also good because it works the same back muscles.
3 Steer clear of the driving range
There are few worse things you can do for your back than standing in one spot and whacking 100 golf balls into oblivion, especially if you haven’t played all year. The rotational movements involved in golf often cause back stress, although this can be avoided by maintaining good levels of all-round fitness and stretching well before you play.
4 Sit on a stability ball
If you’ve been slouching on the sofa for an hour, spend 15 minutes sitting on a stability ball – a decent compromise between what you want to do and what you should do. It’s almost impossible to sit badly on one without falling off – it forces your balance and posture to be spot on.
5 Watch your weight
Putting on a lot of weight over a short period of time can place stress on the body by tilting the pelvis forwards and overloading the spine. Ever wondered why pregnant women suffer back pain?
6 Don’t sleep on a hard bed
Despite what your mum told you about how sleeping on a rock-hard bed would make you grow up straight, hard beds have no give. This means they won’t absorb and support your natural contours and the pressure of your bodyweight will be redirected back into your body. A good bed should adjust to the shape of your spine and be comfortable but firm – a bed that’s too soft can also cause back problems.
7 Have deep-tissue massage
When muscles get tight and sore they get into a state of fibrosis, which eventually leads to scar tissue being laid down on the muscle tissue. This scar tissue is what causes knots in the muscle, which are often painful to touch. The muscles are then dysfunctional and immobile and won’t behave normally until they are released by a deep-tissue massage from a physiotherapist or osteopath. Gentle aromatherapy massages won’t work to reduce the scar tissue, and are better suited to relaxation. If the fibrosis is allowed to build up throughout your life, it will lead to hunching and stiffness in old age.
8 Stay hydrated
The discs in your spine are fluid-filled and normally around 1cm wide, but years of dehydration can cause them to shrink to as little as 5mm wide. Over your life this can cause you to lose height and is one of the main causes of hunching in older people.
9 Don’t just work the vanity muscle groups
When you train at the gym it’s important to give your body a good all-round workout, rather than simply focusing on your abs, chest and biceps – ie, the bits that look good in the mirror. If you neglect your lats, traps and rhomboids (your back muscles, basically) you’ll end up with a back like Quasimodo.
10 Try not to pound the streets
Running on hard concrete roads sends an estimated nine tonnes of force into your ankles, which will then travel through your knees, hips and lower back. Forest trails or sandy beaches are far better places to run because the surfaces are more flexible and therefore can dissipate some of the force away from your body.
11 Feel the pain
Anti-inflammatory painkillers are great for reducing swelling, but don’t allow them to mask potentially serious injuries to your back. Even the most excruciating pain is often easy to fix if you’re in the right hands. See your GP straight away, but bear in mind slipped discs are best treated within the first three months of injury, so if you’re on a huge waiting list for a physio, it may be best to go private if you can. Acupuncture is another great way to reduce pain, because those tiny needles fire off the nerves to the spinal cord and cause a numbing sensation.
12 Watch your posture
If you carry yourself well you’ll reduce your risk of long-term back injury. Practise holding your chin up, as if a fish-hook were pulling it forwards and outwards, and hold your head high. If you have a bag or briefcase, regularly alternate your carrying arm. Otherwise, you shouldn’t be surprised if you get back problems as a result of one side of your body suffering 30 years of stress.
13 Bend the knees
The most common cause of a slipped disc is a sudden twist and jerk movement, such as reaching to pick up heavy luggage out of your car boot and then putting it on the ground. If you need to bend down, make sure you bend your knees and don’t rotate your body at the same time. Bend first, then rotate after. And make sure you stand close to the load you’re lifting.
14 Prevention is always better than cure
Don’t wait until you’re bedridden because of terrible pain to worry about how healthy your back is. Avoid slouching, take part in regular exercise with a good warm-up routine, and work on strengthening your back muscles.
15 Stay calm
Try to chill out and stay relaxed, because getting wound up causes a lot of stress in all the muscles in the body, not just those in the neck. Stressed-out people are far more likely to suffer from back pain than those who are relaxed. A simple technique to reduce stress is to practise deep breathing. If you breathe deeply using your diaphragm, rather than your chest and neck, you’ll help strengthen the deep abdominal muscles, which help to support the spine by tightening the natural ‘corset’ effect of the body.
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| My clinical expertise in treating back pain has been developed over years of research and experience. If you would like to discuss your condition with me prior to making an appointment please call me on 07968613768. Alternately you can book an appointment by calling 01564702186 Solihull Birmingham | To See case studies and testimonials from some of my patients click here and here Acupuncture for back pain Solihull Birmingham |
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