Brazilian university researchers studying acupuncture for spinal pain, have found that ear acupuncture reduces the degree of disability in sufferers. In a clinical trial, 110 people aged 18 to 80 were randomised into three groups: true acupuncture, placebo acupuncture and a no-treatment control group. Both treatment groups received five sessions, over six weeks.
Compared with initial assessment, the team observed a significant reduction in disability in the treatment and placebo groups, by one week after sessions ended, and again at 15 day follow-up. The true acupuncture group however, experienced a greater reduction in disability.
(Action of ear acupuncture in people with chronic pain in the spinal column: a randomized clinical trial. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 3 September 2018.)
Author: Robin Costello
I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training.
I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.
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