Acupuncture?

acupuncture often works if you want it to work

Well, I wanted the other treatments to work, but they didn't!!

Why does it work when it's not the last resort?

Acupuncture often works if you want it to work. It can also coincide with things just getting better naturally, particularly when used as a 'last resort' (think about it!). This can easily be confused with evidence of efficacy.

Absolutely brilliant !!

I have it to help my pain levels as I have osteo and fibro and it has helped. I had tennis elbow and the pain was excruciating a she literally cured that in one go. My practitioner is also trained in Chinese medicine so looks at the whole person it just the specific thing that is wrong with you. He was actually more knowledgeable about my main condition than any of the Gps I have seen or a Pain specialist which on the first visit reassured me he knew what he was about. Certainly worth giving it a try. I did have treatment for 8 sessions in the NHS and that actually made the pain worse. My friend is having it in her wrist and she found to more helpful than anymif the steroid injections she had received before and she was an absolute sceptic and only agreed as she was so desperate for some pain relief. Good luck.x

I had chronic back pain from a ruptured disc. Couldn't lay, sit or walk without excruciating pain. No improvement after 4 months of strong painkillers, traction and physio. GP talking about surgery which I didn't want. Tried acupuncture as a last resort and it worked like a miracle cure for pain. Had it every day for a week, then once a week for a month. At the end I was pain free and able to return to work. Give it a go.

I have awful stress-related pain along the muscles from the back of my neck, along my shoulder and down my arm (started as RSI when I was working, and now siezes up every so often when I'm stressed).
I've had chiropractic treatment, deep tissue massage etc, but recently had two sessions of acapuncture - & am now pain-free for the first time for years..! I shall go every month for a top-up, as it's worth every penny..!!

I lost my sense of smell and taste a year ago due to a bout of flu. An ENT specialist told me that as it hadn't come back in two months, that was it - it never would. I trawled the Internet and read that acupuncture helped more people than conventional medicine, and after months of treatment it is slowly returning. There are those who might say it would have come back anyway, but whatever the reason, I am so glad. The Acupuncture specialist explained the whole set up and how the olfactory nerve needs to heal and then be 'prodded' into working again with the copper needles. I would recommend it!

I have not had it myself, but DH had it for a frozen shoulder and it was very effective.

I had acupuncture a few years ago for very bad sciatica, it was amazing,
I was in agony with it so much i was in tears everytime i tried to move,
Our local hospital did it on the NHS but the sessions are so short, so i went privately even though i couldnt really afford to, but was in so much pain i thought i would give it a try, after the first treatment there was a big improvement, but only needed one more
I would definitely give it a try

lovebooks I had an accident on holiday abroad - I stepped off a kerb, my ankle went over and I landed on it. I heard and felt an almighty clonk! The local hospital immobilised the ankle with strapping, but, according to the specialist whom I saw on my return, he told me that, if he had seen me immediately after the accident, he would have put my leg in a cast up to my thigh! I thought he was joking, but he wasn't. I'd somehow managed to seriously damage all the ligaments/tendons in the ankle.

The physio in the UK tried conventional treatments, which did nothing to reduce the swelling or the pain, but when he used acupuncture, both reduced within 30 minutes. I couldn't believe it! The needles were placed in three points - below the ankle bone on either side and one near the joint of where the big toe and second toe join (IYSWIM).

I always think that if you've tried all the conventional therapies and they haven't worked, why not give the alternative things a try? If it doesn't succeed then hopefully no harm done.

Acupuncture is often helpful, but my tennis elbow wasn't helped by it. I had a steroid injection into the offending joint which cleared it immediately. I have had no trouble since, and contrary to popular legend, the injection itself didn't hurt at all.

I swear by acupuncture. I have suffered from neck/shoulder pain for years. I go roughly 1/month for 'maintenance' as the physiotherapist calls it, which helps keep the pain/discomfort at bay.

I suffered terribly from lack of sleep due to a stressful situation. I had one acupuncture session and it made me feel so relaxed I was almost floating. I got to sleep alright, but woke up as usual at 3am. The second session didn't help either, so I never went back. The stressful situation was stronger than the supposed cure.

There is an exercise to cure tennis elbow in the letter column of The Times today. The writer says ' you hold your arm straight up in the air and twist it from side to side 100 times and 10 times a day. They say it worked and very quickly.

I didn't like acupuncture and found it made me feel 'travel sick'.
It did nothing for the pain.

I also swear by it. I've had it for many ailments - sciatica, trapped nerve in my neck, back problems and the unglamorous sounding 'policeman's heel'

Always works for me.

Fairy? Fairly!!

I have a "frozen shoulder" which they say will take up to two years to clear on its own, I now go to a physiotherapist once a week, and have acupuncture with a bit of electricity to the needles, it is not uncomfortable, and I get pain relief from it, so lets hope it wil better before another years has passed.
Must finish, off to the physio!

I had acupuncture for migraines years ago. I was also being monitored for fibroids, which they were fairy sure I'd need surgery for. The migraines improved no end and when I went back to the hospital the fibroids had disappeared. I've always believed that was a nice surprise side effect!

My pony had arthritis and could hardy walk. After a course of acu. she was taking small jumps within 2 months. Don't believe it's all in the mind - a pony doesn't know that. Having said that acu worked for my sore neck but didn't work for tendinitis so give it a try - you have nothing to loose.

It works for my friends dibilitating migraines. Give it a go

Minimouse - I'm really interested in your post, as I have a chronic ankle injury - four years old now - and I'm trying to avoid surgery. Would you tell me more, please, like how serious was the injury?

...I think its amazing...always works for me ??

Definitely worth trying. I have had acupuncture regularly for several years now and it has really helped my joints. I shudder when I think that all a consultant could offer were powerful drugs with unpleasant side effects. I now have a normal life, walking, swimming, practising yoga and pilates. Just make sure that you go to a practitioner who is registered with the British Acupuncture Council.

I was fortunate enough to be a guinea pig for my (then) local hospital who were considering offering acupuncture as an alternative therapy. I can honestly say that I felt a huge benefit. If you have never experienced acupuncture Jane10 then I can only describe it as a nice pain (if that makes sense) much like the way you might press on your temple to relieve a headache etc. My leg pain is often so bad that I punch myself in the pain just to create a different pain. (mad as it seems). I now use a TENS machine regularly which I can highly recommend. Acupuncture is not a cure in itself though,it works by relieving the symptoms which can often lead to you being able to manage the symptoms much easier. For example if you have a bad back the acupuncture could relieve the pain enabling you to exercise/stretch/walk easier and more freely which could eventually provide a cure.