The publication of a guideline in June 2021 by the National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) is a major advance for the recognition of acupuncture as a legitimate clinically effective treatment in the UK, writes the Journal of Chinese Medicine.
This is the first time that NICE has released a guideline specifically focussed on chronic primary pain where there is no underlying condition that adequately accounts for the pain or its impact.
Around a third of the UK population reports suffering from a chronic pain condition, often accompanied by significant emotional distress, functional disability and absence from work. Common conditions that fall into this category include fibromyalgia, myofascial pain & chronic neck, bad and pelvic pain.
In a significant change to their treatment policy, NICE no longer endorses the use of painkillers, instead directing doctors to offer patients with primary chronic pain one of four recommended treatments: exercise, talk therapy, acupuncture & anti-depressants.
A single course of acupuncture or dry needling, with a traditional Chinese or Western acupuncture system, is recommended as long as it is delivered in a community setting by a healthcare professional with appropriate training and takes up no more than five hours of healthcare professional time or is delivered in another setting for an equivalent or lower cost.
The NICE committee that developed the guidelines, acknowledged that there was a large evidence base showing acupuncture to be clinically effective in the short term, citing 27 studies showing that it reduced pain and improved quality of life for up to three months.
Next post Happy Year of the Yang Fire Horse
