does acupuncture really work?

I do hope my scientist brother knows what he's talking about as I've taken his advice on many medical matters including trying to avoid the dependence on painkillers if alternative treatments work.

Merlotgran, your GP's explanation may be an analogy however it makes good sense. I expect we all know that how to relax our muscles is to clench and then relax. This is one of my getting to sleep strategies.

On the other hand if acupuncture is suggestion by an authority i.e. placebo what matter if it works! Placebos can need regular toppings-up.

I suffered for a long time with pain from a frozen shoulder which stopped me from working and as a final resort I went for acupuncture which worked after my second visit he was from Switzerland and went to many Countries for all the up to date methods he was fantastic and would not hesitate to go again if needed.

I've had it done a few times but it didn't have any effect.

I know a whole family of acupuncturists and they have persuaded me that it works, whatever your brother says.

Any blind trials rely on acupressure, which can work, too.

I don’t have experience of it myself, nor am I a scientist. My scientist brother, however, is an expert on such things and has followed up all the studies on acupuncture and other alternative treatments. I am relying on his knowledge, which is sound. He actually knows what he is talking about, so I’m not dismissing it in an offhand way.

There are studies with controls that distinguish between placebo and real effects, I believe. However, as I say, the placebo effect can be powerful and if it works for you, good luck to you.

I have used it with good results on tension headaches several years aog it took a while but I have not had it come back. Some treatment on a painful bruised coccyx . I had had for sometime where the practictioner burnt a little pile of Moxa herb over a particular part and it began to get improve within a week.
I have also had that most recently for misuse of arm muscles which were painfully twinging.
I would always try it.
The placebo effect works
www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-placebo-effect-2795466

I can guarantee that the placebo effect was NOT what cured my sciatica, plantar fasciitis and whiplash damage leading to nerve entrapment.

My GP took the trouble to explain just how it was working and likened nerve entrapment to pulling on the handbrake of your car too tightly. You have to pull it even tighter to be able to release it. The acupuncture needles cause the muscles to clench so when they finally relax the nerve can be released. It might take a few treatments but it works for me.

Please don't dismiss it in such an offhand way, Grandma70s. If more GPs were trained to use it the NHS would save a fortune.

Acupuncture is marvellous. I had several sessions due to pain and numbness from spinal stenosis which flares up regularly. Done privately by a physiotherapist who was also trained in acupuncture. She took a full medical history before she started treatment and it gave me a lot of relief. Worth every penny.

How can you tell if it's placebo or real, GrandMa70?
Have you actually tried it?

The mind is a wonderful thing......the placebo effect can be very powerful. There is also the fact that many conditions get better spontaneously. If this happens after acupuncture some people think the acupuncture is the reason. It’s known as the post hoc theory. (“After this, therefore because of this.”)

Well I'm afraid it didn't work for my sciatica. In fact it was most uncomfortable at the time. I still have numbness all over my right ankle seven years on. So it obviously works for some and not others.

It worked for me when I had sciatica.
Another warning, if you have to drive to a practitioner, have someone else drive you.
My husband used to go to sleep and could not have driven home after treatment.

Does it work for arthritis in the hands please?

I’ve been referred to the pain clinic for acupuncture, snow permitting will go later this week. Previous (private) experiences have been good, helped with neck pain and fibro. My thinking is as long as the practitioner is well qualified and it avoids medication it’s worth a try.

It works for me too travelsafar .

I had it done at the Pain clinic too. I found it extremely beneficial .

DH swears by it, it got him off of his Antihistamine pills and also got rid of various other aches and pains.
However, the pain you describe in your feet, ( I likened it to walking on marbles) should fade in time. I had an operation for a herniated disc, which partially paralysed my leg, ( the slipped disc, not the op) the nerve was damaged, but I was told that it would regrow at 1mm a week, it took around 2 years to get the feeling back, until then I felt I was walking on marbles. Don’t give up hope that the nerve will repair itself.
I have tried acupuncture for Hay fever and Sciatica and it did nothing for me.

From my experience acupuncture has helped me tremendously over the last 12 years. My acupuncturist has sorted out neuralgia. Neck pain. Sciatica etc. It has been money well spent.

I go to someone who practises ancient Chinese acupuncture.

Years ago when I had migraines I saw another acupuncturist but he couldn’t help.

Ask around your friends to get recommendations.

You could contact the British Acupuncture Council to find people in your area.

It worked for DH’s tennis elbow a couple of times.

It didn't work for DH'S hip pain when he was putting off surgery.

DD1 is convinced it worked when she was having difficulty getting pregnant. We are more inclined to believe that moving house and getting a new job did the trick.

I had acupuncture under the Pain Clinic and also under physio. It worked for me. Mine was for sciatica and other arthritic pains, as well as for headaches. One warning, it can get worse for the first couple of sessions before improving.
There are different types of training as well. The Pain Clinic nurse was a qualified nurse who then spent 3 years training as an acupunturist. The physios go on a short course.

There is no reliable scientific evidence that it works. If it seems to, it is either the placebo effect or coincidence. Don’t waste your money.

It's worked for me many times but our lovely GP who would often reach for the magic needles instead of writing a prescription has retired so acupuncture is no longer on offer at our surgery.

Yes, it does work. I've seen the evidence. When my daughter was a teenager she suffered from tremendous headaches which caused her to faint sometimes. With regular acupuncture treatments (recommended by a neuropsychiatrist no less), the headaches were cured. Also, if she had bad period pains during a treatment, the acupuncurist would stick an extra pin in her earlobe and cure that too. My husband then decided to have it for his neck problems. Although he was very sceptical, he too found tremendous relief. Would love him to have some now for his sciatica but the man has moved away. He was an Australian, trained in China.

It has worked for me, more than once.