Acupuncture is one of the most popular and well-established forms of complementary medicine in the North America. It has its roots in a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that’s been practiced for thousands of years.
What does it involve?
The insertion of ultra-fine, metal needles at various carefully chosen points on the skin.
Who practices it?
About 3,000 acupuncturists and healthcare professionals in the North Ameraica, including doctors, physiotherapists and dentists.
What’s it used for?
It’s usually used to treat pain, relieve common ailments and promote general health.
Other uses include:
- treating injuries in sports medicine
- to relieve childhood illnesses
- in NHS pain clinics
- to help overcome drug addiction
What’s the evidence?
There is research showing that acupuncture can treat nausea, dental problems, and neck and low back pain, and there’s some evidence that it may also help ease headaches, hay fever, osteoarthritis, prostate problems, bed-wetting and labour pain.
However, there are also studies that show no particular benefit from acupuncture, or conflicting results. More high-quality, well-designed research is needed to test acupuncture’s effectiveness further.
Much of the relevant research is available online in the Cochrane Reviews, which are up-to-date reviews of the effects of health care by an international, not-for-profit organization. Use the search box provided to search for acupuncture.
The NHS Complementary and Alternative Medicine Specialist Library also has research on acupuncture. It’s aimed at health professionals, but much of it is accessible by patients and careers in plain language summaries.
How popular is it?
A 2005 report says approximately one million NHS acupuncture treatments and two million private treatments take place in England every year.
How does it work?
Acupuncturists believe it regulates the flow of ‘vital energy’, known as ‘Qi’ (pronounced ‘chee’), that circulates through a series of electrical channels in the body, known as meridians.
Stimulating the acupuncture points is thought to release blockages in this energy flow and stimulate healing mechanisms.
More conventional theories include triggering the production of ‘feel-good’ chemicals in the brain known as endorphins, blocking pain receptors or stimulating the nervous system by means of acupuncture needles.
What’s acupuncture like?
Diagnosis – You’ll be asked questions about your health, your symptoms and often your general diet and lifestyle, including sleep habits, bowel movements and so on.
The practitioner will look at the colour and shape of your tongue and its coating, and will feel pulses in different positions on each of your wrists.
Non-medical acupuncturists train for years to feel for six pulses on each wrist that are believed to give information about each of the internal organs, as well as the body as a whole.
As these pulses can’t be measured, people who are skeptical about acupuncture’s effectiveness don’t accept their existence.
The acupuncturist may also press different acupuncture points, for example on your stomach or back, to check for tenderness or pain.
Treatment – The practitioner should explain the diagnosis and your treatment plan to you and give you an idea of what changes you may expect over what period of time.
You will be asked to sit or lie on a treatment couch and may be asked to remove some clothing.
Small, fine acupuncture needles will be inserted, either by hand or through a guide tube, at different points on your body, often on the wrists, ankles and feet, back and abdomen. As the needles are inserted, you shouldn’t feel anything apart from a mild sensation or slight soreness. It shouldn’t be painful.
The acupuncturist may use just a few or quite a number of needles and they can be of different lengths and thicknesses depending on the part of your body being treated.
If you’re afraid of needles, finger pressure, heat treatment, pressure devices or lasers can be used instead.
Safety – All properly trained acupuncturists who belong to professional associations are stringent about safety. They use only sterilized, disposable needles so there’s no risk of infection and insert them carefully and correctly to prevent any injury.
Time taken – Treatment usually lasts for between 20 and 30 minutes. You may be treated first on one side of the body, say the back, and then be asked to turn over for treatment on the other side.
Techniques- Other therapies such as moxa (burning an aromatic herb close to the skin to warm it) or cupping (placing metal or glass suction cups on the skin to increase circulation) may be used alongside acupuncture.
Types of acupuncture
Most acupuncturists insert needles by hand but some use electro-acupuncture (electrical stimulation of needles), laser acupuncture (using a laser light pen), acupressure (fingertip stimulation of acupuncture points) or auricular acupuncture (ear acupuncture) as well or instead.
Some doctors and other health professionals use mainly ‘trigger point’ acupuncture, which involves selecting set points to treat pain.
Are there any side-effects?
Acupuncture is usually safe when practiced by properly qualified practitioners.
Common, mild side-effects are slight drowsiness after treatment, or mild soreness around some of the points that have been treated.
Occasional side-effects are mild bruising or very slight bleeding at one or more points if needles have been inserted near tiny blood vessels.
Severe side-effects are extremely rare but include a risk of infection, or damage to internal organs such as a lung being punctured.
Ensure your practitioner is properly trained and registered with a professional association, and uses only sterilized and disposable needles.
How many treatments will I need?
You may get benefits after just one treatment but often a course of six to ten treatments is recommended, especially for chronic problems. If you haven’t noticed any, or much, change after the first few treatments talk this over with your practitioner to see if it’s worth continuing. Treatments are often once a week to begin with and then spread over increasing intervals of time.
Whenever possible, keep your GP informed about your acupuncture and its outcome.
When is it unsafe to have acupuncture?
Some acupuncture points are not safe during pregnancy, so always inform your practitioner if you are, or may be, pregnant. Also tell them if you’re on any medication in case of interactions or side-effects.
Don’t have acupuncture when under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs.
