Researchers in the US have found that weekly acupuncture is associated with improvements in pain and quality of life, when included in the usual care of chronic pain patients in urban health centres. In a trial, 226 patients selected from four health centres in the Bronx, New York, began receiving acupuncture. Osteoarthritis, back and neck pain were usually the reason for referral to the trial. Patients were frequently older (mean age 54), receiving disability payments, in poor or fair overall health, and with high baseline pain levels.
Following a mean of 9.7 acupuncture treatments on a weekly basis, there was a significant improvement in pain severity and physical wellbeing at 12 and 24 weeks, compared to baseline levels.
(Outcomes of acupuncture for chronic pain in urban primary care. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, Nov-Dec 2013.)
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.
View all posts by Robin Costello
