People come to acupuncture for a wide range of health conditions, either as a first port of call or because they have not had any relief from allopathic treatment.
It is always advisable to see or speak with your GP for any new symptoms just to rule out that there isn’t anything more serious going on, even with something like backache.
Acupuncture can be used alongside other treatments for additional support.
The NICE guidelines recommend considering acupuncture as a treatment option for:
Chronic tension-type headaches
Acupuncture is also often used to treat other musculoskeletal conditions (of the bones and muscles) and pain conditions, including:
Chronic pain, such as neck pain
Joint pain
Dental pain
Postoperative pain
Below is a list of conditions from the British Acupuncture Council’s website, where there is some evidence of the possible benefits of using acupuncture. In many cases, this will be a support alongside allopathic treatments or medication.
Moxibustion can enhance the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of conventional medicine in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Chinese authors report.
Read MoreResults of a network meta-analysis by Chinese authors demonstrate that acupuncture is one of several effective treatments for migraine symptoms. A total of 13 randomised controlled trials, including 1559 patients, were assessed. Network meta-analysis demonstrated that electro-acupuncture (EA) significantly reduced subjective migraine pain scores scores and frequency of headache attacks compared with both Western medicine and sham acupuncture. The clinical efficiency of EA was also superior to other therapies for the improvement of anxiety and depression.
Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Electroacupuncture in Migraine Treatment: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis. Am J Chin Med. 2019;47(8):1755-1780.