Acupuncture for other problems

 

Benefiting a really wide range of conditions


Acupuncture is not just a technique for relieving pain or sorting out headaches.  It's a holistic system of medicine, and a very wide range of health problems can respond well.

 

Case studies

"When I first decided to visit Jessica I was very unwell and was feeling very low with little motivation.  I had been off work and in hospital due to inflammation of the sacroiliac joint and was barely able to walk or even sit for that matter.  The moment I met Jessica I felt comfortable and at ease. Jessica is sympathetic and caring and doesn’t just treat the problem but the person.  Not only has she helped with the inflammation but I am more motivated than I ever was since my illness.  Friends and family have noticed the change in me and I can now look forward to living my life, being a confident, happy and slightly more laid back woman.  I have been seeing Jessica for nearly a year now, NOT because I have to but because I look forward to the monthly boost of making me feel relaxed and focused on living life to the fullest.   I would strongly recommend a visit to Jessica."

An administrator in her 30s

"...the most startling healing success came later when Jessica treated the pain I was experiencing from a ganglion on my right wrist. Because it never occurred to me that this could be treated with acupuncture, I didn't mention it for a long time. I was in pain for nearly a year and saw several conventional specialists. Once the last specialist told me there was no option but to operate, I mentioned it to Jessica. One session of acupuncture reduced the pain dramatically, and with follow-up treatments, it is now completely under control."

A researcher in her 30s

 

click for more case studies

 

Research

As well as the conditions described elsewhere on this website, a 2003 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO)(1) found a number of conditions "for which acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be an effective treatment", including:

 

Adverse reactions to chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy

Facial pain

Essential hypertension

Primary hypotension

Pain in dentistry

Post-operative pain

Stroke

 

And those "for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed" included:

 

Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)
Alcohol dependence and detoxification
Bell’s palsy
Cancer pain
Earache
Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease) (ie nosebleeds)
Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
Facial spasm
Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
Hyperlipaemia (ie high cholesterol)
Ménière disease
Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence
Postoperative convalescence
Raynaud syndrome, primary
Retention of urine, traumatic
Sjögren syndrome
Vascular dementia
Whooping cough (pertussis)

 

Meanwhile a review(2) by the British Medical Journal described acupuncture as "very safe" when practiced by an appropriately-qualified practitioner. 

 

The modern evidence base for acupuncture is incomplete, and this is true for a great many areas of conventional medicine too.  The Clinical Evidence website of the British Medical Journal tells us that of the 2,500 conventional medical treatments their databases cover, 46% are of unknown effectiveness (as at October 2009)(3)

 

Jessica continues to witness the benefits of acupuncture for many people in her work, utilising the knowledge and practice of Chinese medicine built up over thousands of years.  She's happy that more and more modern scientific research is being done into acupuncture, helping to bring it to a wider audience. 

 

Contact Jessica


Each of us responds differently to acupuncture.  Do get in touch to discuss whether acupuncture is likely to be right for you, or to make an appointment.

 

 

Other conditions


Acupuncture can help with a wide range of health problems, click below to find out more:

 


Detailed references

(1) http://www.acupuncture-schools.us/national-institute-health-nih-acupuncture.cfm, referring to World Health Organisation (2002).  Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trial, see http://apps.who.int/bookorders/anglais/detart1.jsp?sesslan=1&codlan=1&codcol=93&codcch=196

(2) Rampes (2001).  The safety of acupuncture.  British Medical Journal 2001;323(7311):467 (1 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.323.7311.467, see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/323/7311/467

(3) From the 'About Us' area of the Clinical Evidence BMJ website, page titled 'How much do we know', http://clinicalevidence.bmj.com/ceweb/about/knowledge.jsp.  Extract at Oct 2009: "So what can Clinical Evidence tell us about the state of our current knowledge? What proportion of commonly used treatments are supported by good evidence, what proportion should not be used or used only with caution, and how big are the gaps in our knowledge? Of around 2500 treatments covered 13% are rated as beneficial, 23% likely to be beneficial, 8% as trade off between benefits and harms, 6% unlikely to be beneficial, 4% likely to be ineffective or harmful, and 46%, the largest proportion, as unknown effectiveness"


© Jessica Kennedy 2005-09, all rights reserved