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Is Acupuncture Good For Back Pain

Are There Side Effects With Acupuncture

Acupuncture For Back Pain

As with many holistic treatments, acupuncture side effects are uncommon. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health confirms this, saying: “Relatively few complications from using acupuncture have been reported.”

The NCCIH goes on to say that most of the time, the problems that do occur are related to contaminated needles. The FDA regulates the standards by which needles are manufactured and labeled they require the needles to be sterile, nontoxic, and labeled for single use by licensed practitioners only. Acupuncture needles are oftenpackaged singularly, as well, making contamination even less likely.

But what happens in those rare instances when a needle is contaminated? The NCCIH says this can cause an infection or other serious problems. And, if your practitioner is not properly educated or does not have a lot of experience at their craft, they may actually puncture an organ or lung or injure a nerve. But again, these kinds of complications are very rare.

Is Acupuncture Good For Back Pain

Published On | Last modified: November 2, 2021

Lower back pain is one of the most common types of pains experienced by men and women. This chronic pain occurs as a result of nerve, muscle, ligament, or spine injuries. Usually, doctors suggest taking a painkiller, massaging the back, applying a pain relief cream, etc. While all these methods are effective, they only relieve the pain for a short time. Therefore, doctors are now turning towards alternative treatments for lower back pain. Nowadays, one of the most commonly recommended treatments is acupuncture for back pain. This ancient technique has proved excellent results for managing back pain, among other conditions.

Is acupuncture good for back pain? If you are wondering, please continue reading below to learn more about the benefits of acupuncture for back pain.

All Studies Have Limitations

And this one is no exception. While this study suggests that chiropractic care may be helpful for low back pain, some aspects of the study make it hard to be sure. For example:

If any of these factors had been different, the results might have been different. For example, its possible that if an older population of people with chronic low back pain had been studied, “usual care” might have been the better treatment.

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Is Acupuncture Effective At Treating Lower Back Pain

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The lower back bears the brunt of some of the bodys most demanding activities. The lower back must support the weight of the head, arms, and upper back, and many daily hours of sitting can cause stiffness, tiredness, and collapse, which in turn can create wear on discs and nerve compression. Poor posture, acute injuries, straining when moving or lifting objects, being overweight, uncomfortable or ill-fitting shoes, and many more facts of daily life can cause back pain and injuries.

Lower back pain has become an epidemic across the United States, and the statistics are staggering. More people see their doctor for back pain than for any other complaint besides upper-respiratory infections. Fifty percent of all working Americans report having back pain on an annual basis, and over $50 billion dollars is spent on managing back pain each year. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, lower back pain is the leading cause of disease across the world. As many as 85 percent of Americans will experience back pain at some point in their lives.

Acupuncture has proved to be very successful at treating some back pain, both scientifically and anecdotally. At Awaken Integrative Wellness, we provide you with a holistic solution to managing back pain that can work hand in hand with other pain-relief measures you may be taking.

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Acupuncture For Low Back Pain Part : Si Joint Injury

Many studies have been done that show how good acupuncture is for low back pain. But there are many different reasons for low back pain, and often people dont know the SI joint can be the cause of their problems.

If only the back is treated, and pain doesnt subside, perhaps the sacro-iliac joint needs to be addressed. Fortunately there is physical exam that can tell us if its a problem, and I always like to check it when a patient presents with low back pain. When the root of a problem is the SI joint, the ligaments in this joint are loose, and instability causes pain.

Acupuncture tightens these ligaments using a method called prolo-acupuncture. Many of my patients once again do the activities they love after 6-8 treatments, pain-free. Sometimes even, as in the case I write about below.

Is Acupuncture An Effective Treatment For Back Pain

Multiple scientific studies have shown that acupuncture provides as good or better results than standard routine treatment. Other research has shown acupuncture to be a valuable complement to conventional solutions, allowing patients to curb their use of pain killers. Acupuncture has also been studied in terms of work-related back pain and has been shown to result in fewer work days lost.

The American Pain Society and the American College of Physicians released guidelines in 2007 recommending acupuncture as a possible non-pharmaceutical option for patients with chronic low-back pain where standard self-care measuressuch as heat, light stretching, and analgesicsare ineffective.

Acupuncture has also been studied and shown to be effective in treating other pain-related conditions, such as migraines, arthritis, and labor pain. Above all, acupuncture treats the patient rather than treating the disease, so the effectiveness of your course of acupuncture will depend in part on the causes behind the pain and whether acupuncture is effective at treating those issues.

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Controversies In The Design Of Acupuncture Studies

In addition to the challenges in defining appropriate and representative treatments for acupuncture studies, even more controversy exists about appropriate comparison groups. While researchers have typically used a variety of âmisplacedâ and/or âshallow needlingâ needling control groups, the lack of clarity on the active ingredient of acupuncture and the variability in practice has made it impossible to engender consensus regarding the most appropriate type of âshamâ or âplaceboâ acupuncture controls. For example, apart from the wide variability in needle locations and depth of insertion used when treating patients with pain, some styles of acupuncture include non-insertive needling as part of their practice . Thus, needling controls and even non-insertive controls could be considered inappropriate comparison groups. Moreover, some researchers argue that acupuncture is part of a holistic system of care, rather than being needle insertion per se . In that view, the decision to investigate needling efficacy is misguided because it does not yield useful information about the benefits of acupuncture. Thus, the reader should be cautioned that the acupuncture research community has not reached consensus about the interpretation of findings from patients receiving âshamâ acupuncture.

Q What Happens If You Dont Use The Right Channel

Acupuncture for back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, migraines Glasgow Edinburgh (hcclinic.co.uk) #2

A. Often, not a lot. The patient may or may not return for more treatment, depending on how much they like and respect you! Sometimes there is an improvement, probably more from luck than good judgement.

Of course, pain can occur over a wide area, taking in a number of channels. In that case all of them may need treatment but even here usually one takes precedence. Discovering which that is can take skill.

In fact, there are many acupuncture methods which are amazingly good at reducing pain. These use points found on other meridians to clear blockages causing pain in the affected meridians.

Where you, the patient, feel the pain, may not be where the best acupuncture treatment is done. If the underlying condition isnt treated, the back pain will return and relief will be temporary.

Q. Why?

A. Suppose the condition is caused by Cold and/or Damp.

To understand this, take an analogy:

Theres a village in Somerset, England, called Munchelney. It lies inland, about 18 miles from the sea.

At the time of writing this , after heavy rain for weeks, it is surrounded by water, like an island.

Being cut off, they need food, not to mention rescuing. Power supplies are affected so no doubt some of them will be suffering from cold and damp.

Those susceptible will have back pain, amongst other problems.

Of course food, warmth and rescue will help. But until the floods drain and the land dries out, their problems will remain or return.

A somewhat bleak prospect!

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Is The Si Joint Causing Low Back Pain

First, what is an SI joint? It is your sacroiliac joint. Its visualized by those two little dimples on your low back, just above the buttock. That joint is between the sacrum and ilium, and is held together with very strong ligaments. These act as support right in the center of your body.

Its not always easy to determine if your sacroiliac joint is the problem, and sometimes it goes undiagnosed.

Possible causes of SI Joint injury:

  • Sudden fall

Symptoms of SI joint instability:

  • Low back pain
  • Pain that radiates into buttock, legs, groin
  • Painful to lie on your side for extended periods of time
  • Hurts to cross your legs
  • Worse with standing and walking, better lying down

Treatment Of Damp And Cold Invasion

There are acupuncture points that help to drain damp.

The points that do this are often nowhere near the pain. Points local to where the pain is are often ineffective until the bodys tendency to let damp collect is sorted out.

Of course, your acupuncturist would suggest ways to avoid exposure to damp and cold, . He might suggest you stop living in a damp house. But if you dont live in a damp house, it might be that your favourite sport or your work exposes you to damp conditions.

Some foods, medications and drugs also increase the incidence of damp in your body. Eating too much cold food also makes you susceptible to cold invasion.

So, for a syndrome like Damp, you may find there are plenty of things you can do yourself to reduce its likelihood and to improve your chances of getting rid of it.

Otherwise, just giving you the right food and warm clothing will be nice, but until the floods drain away, youll need continuing help. Visiting your acupuncturist may not cure you, even with the best treatment. You might as well take a painkiller!

So, although acupuncture can greatly help clear the above syndromes that produce back pain, and in this case, damp, there may be changes you should make . If you dont make these changes, cure may take longer.

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Studies Show The Effectiveness Of Needles And Other Forms Of Treatment

If youve ever considered acupuncture for chronic low back pain, heres the good news: Studies by Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute show that acupuncture can help. In a large study, KPWHRI researchers found that acupuncture was more effective than usual care alone for helping people with chronic low back pain feel less bothered by their symptoms and function better in their daily activities.

“Acupuncture is about as effective as other treatments for chronic back pain that have been found helpful,” says study leader Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, an emeritus senior investigator at KPWHRI. “But we found that simulated acupuncture, without penetrating the skin, produced as much benefit as needle acupunctureand that raises questions about how acupuncture works.”

Since simulated acupuncture also soothed low back pain, the benefit seemed to require neither tailoring acupuncture needle sites to an individual patient nor inserting needles into the skin. “We don’t know precisely why people got back pain relief from the simulated acupuncture,” says study co-author Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH, a senior investigator at KPWHRI. “Historically, some types of acupuncture have used non-penetrating needles. Such treatments may involve physiological effects that make a clinical difference.” Or it might be all about the mind-body connection. She said, “Maybe the context in which people get treatment has effects that are more important than the mechanically induced effects.”

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Our patients know just how effective treatments are for these and a host of other problems. Steven Hoffman, a New Jersey Licensed Acupuncturist and Diplomate in Oriental Medicine, will provide you with a thorough intake and evaluation and a clear, comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plan that will insure that your goals are met or exceeded. Do you want to move past these or other problems? We will help you thrive not just survive!

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Acupuncture Is Worth A Try For Chronic Pain

ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

Chronic pain in the muscles and joints can make life miserable. Standard treatments like ice and heat, anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, and appropriate exercises can often ease the pain. But when they dont, acupuncture is an option with a good track record thats worth considering.

Over the years there has been substantial debate about whether acupuncture really works for chronic pain. Research from an international team of experts adds to the evidence that it does provide real relief from common forms of pain. The team pooled the results of 29 studies involving nearly 18,000 participants. Some had acupuncture, some had sham acupuncture, and some didnt have acupuncture at all. Overall, acupuncture relieved pain by about 50%. The results were published in Archives of Internal Medicine.

The study isnt the last word on the issue, but it is one of the best quality studies to date and has made an impression.

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The medical team here at Endeavor Physical Therapy & Wellness offers services that cover your whole body, from your shoulder to the spine, hips, knees, elbows, wrists, hands, and ankles. The services we offer include physical therapy, occupational therapy, hand therapy, and dry needling.

If you would like to schedule a consultation, contact us today by calling our friendly staff at 284-7192, or you may also request an appointment now by filling out our online form. We look forward to helping you find relief from your back pain.

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Acupuncture: An Ancient Treatment For A Current Problem

Acupuncture is widely understood to be a non-traditional treatment option for back pain or neck pain. While acupuncture is often not the first line of treatment sought for most back or neck problems, an increasing number of patients, as well as physicians and other health professionals are starting to use acupuncture as a means to reduce neck pain and back pain.

Acupuncture is a form of Chinese medicine that can be traced back at least 2,500 years. The general premise of acupuncture is that the body contains patterns of energy flow. The vital energy or life force of the body is referred to as qi , and proper flow of qi is considered to be necessary to maintain health.

The theory of acupuncture is that there are over 2,000 points on the human body that connect with 20 pathways . These pathways conduct the qi throughout the body. With acupuncture, hair-thin metallic needles are inserted into specific combinations of these 2,000 points in an attempt to correct and/or maintain a normal flow of qi.

Acupuncture For Back Pain And Neck Aches

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When you bring your backache to your healthcare provider, you likely expect, and hopefully get, an explanation as to why its hurting and what you should do to make it stop. Maybe you have pain, numbness, weakness, or electrical sensations that travel down one leg or arm. Or maybe youre stiff, and you wonder why.

Such expectations are to a great extent, what our Western medical industry is built ona structural approach to spine pain and its solutions. This approach is also known as the mechanical view or the mechanical approach.

The mechanical approach is all about whats wrong in one or more of the bodys tissues and what steps should be taken to fix it.

Our Western medical system occupies most of the thinking about and attention to health in the U.S. But in the last 30 years or so, the use of holistic therapiesespecially for neck, back, and other joint problemshas been making its way towards the mainstream. One of the most popular of these treatments is acupuncture.

Back and neck pain is the bread and butter of an acupuncture business, says Michael L. Fox, Ph.D., president of the California Acupuncture Association and owner of Silverlake Acupuncture in Los Angeles. Fox adds that for most acupuncturists, the percentage of joint pain patients hovers around the 80 percent mark.

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The Causes Of Back Pain

Sometimes it can seem as though there are almost as many causes for back pain as there are people who experience it. Any or a combination of the structures that make up the lower back can be affected, including the vertebrae , muscles, ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels. The lower, or lumbar, spine is particularly vulnerable, in part due to its high degree of mobility. The lower spine is made up of the lumbar and sacral vertebrae , the nerves that make up the spinal cord, and the muscles and ligaments that allow us to move.

Muscle strain is a common cause of lower back pain. Also known as a pulled muscle, a strain is caused when a muscle is overstretched or torn due to improper use, overuse, or fatigue. A myriad of structural problems can also cause back pain. Bulging, herniated, or ruptured discs can put pressure on nerves, sometimes causing severe pain. Compressed nerves can cause symptoms such as pain, tingling, and numbness. Still other causes include scoliosis, arthritis, osteoporosis, spinal stenosis, spinal infection, or a spinal tumor. Kidney pain can also cause lower back ache.

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