|
|
Acupuncture for sports injuries
Getting back to
fighting fitness
Acupuncture is well known for treating sports injuries and other musculo-skeletal
problems, and they often respond really well. If your injury is
new the area may be too inflamed and swollen for
osteopathy or chiropractic, and acupuncture can be great at this point
to relieve your pain, reduce your swelling and inflammation, and promote
healing.
If your injury is
more longstanding, and
even if
other therapies have not brought much improvement, acupuncture can often
reduce or remove the pain or limitation of movement. Injuries which have been there for
years can even respond well, with reduce aching or stiffness, as the
treatment promotes the flow of blood and energy in the area.
|
Case studies |
|
"I thought my
knee problem would stop
me running the marathon, but acupuncture got me there! My
physio suggested acupuncture for the ITB syndrome in my
knee, which was giving me sharp pain after only 20 minutes
running, to the point where I couldn't run any further. The
acupuncture treatments extended how long I could run, and
after seven treatments I ran the
marathon in 4.5 hours without
even a twinge from my knee."
A doctor in
her 20s
"A
kicking injury kept me from my Tae Kwon Do for 7
months, with burning pain
in my glutes, hamstrings and groin on the left side.
Running made it worse too, so I couldn't exercise as much as
I wanted to. It would flare up every time I did a good
amount of exercise, then be sore for a week or two, and it
just wasn't getting any better. I didn't feel as stable as
before either, and sometimes walking was a bit difficult.
Physio and osteopathy helped with some other stuff, but in
the end it was electroacupuncture that's made a big
difference to this one. After eight treatments my leg is
sorted and I'm really pleased to be back to my Tae Kwon Do.
I was impressed with the
professional and caring service I received and
wouldn't hesitate to recommend Jessica to friend and
colleagues."
An
IT professional in his 20s |
"A friend recommended I try
acupuncture to help me recover from
a debilitating arm/shoulder injury
caused by a parachute crash. Jessica's
treatment has not only helped me recover fully from the
injury but has also positively changed way I think and feel
about myself and the world around me. I
thoroughly recommend her to anyone, man or woman, looking to
recover from injury or simply to re-engergise their Chi. You
would never regret giving it a chance."
A company
director in his 40s
"I'm
not sure if you will remember me, but
I came to you for treatment a few years ago for
tendonitis in my Achilles. I only had to see you a few times
and the results were amazing. I haven't had any
problems with it since."
A finance
professional in her 20s
click for more case studies |
|
|
Research |
A
2003 report by the World Health Organisation (WHO)(1) found that knee
pain, sprains and tennis elbow
are among the conditions
"for which acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be
an effective treatment".
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 |