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Medical Acupuncture Treatmentsin St Albans
For effective acupuncture treatments, get in touch with
St Albans therapy and sports injury clinic today.
How does medical acupuncture work?
Medical acupuncture, also known as dry needling, is a technique whereby fine needles are used to treat hyper-irritable spots of skeletal muscle which are otherwise known as trigger points.
Trigger points feel like “knots” or tight bands in the muscle. The goal of the insertion of a dry needle into the tight bands is to sedate these trigger points, release pain and help reorganize and align collagen fibres.
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Trigger points feel like “knots” or tight bands in the muscle. The goal of the insertion of a dry needle into the tight bands is to sedate these trigger points, release pain and help reorganize and align collagen fibres.
Dry needling allows access to deep musculature that may have never been reached without the use of a needle. Chemicals are released such as calcitonin and bradykinin, which dilates local blood vessels an often create red flushes on the skin.
It is important to note that muscle trigger point dry needling has no similarities with traditional acupuncture except for the needle being used during the process.
How safe is Medical Acupuncture and What can I expect Post Treatment?
Two surveys were published in the British Medical Journal in 2001 which concluded:
- Risk of a serious adverse reaction to acupuncture is less than 1 in 10,000.
- Sterile needles are always used before being disposed into a sharps bin.
- The insertion of a needle into the trigger point can produce a deep ache or cramping pressure that lasts only briefly.
- Reproduction of pain and referral of symptoms may also occur and soreness may last for 24-48 hours.
- Improvements in function and range of motion, decrease in complaints of pain and comfortable mobility may be experienced after treatment.
Please Note:
Please note that the practitioner does NOT
perform medical acupuncture for the following:
- During pregnancy within the first TWO trimesters.
- Lymphedema.
- Whilst undergoing ANY form of cancer treatment.
- Whilst taking ANY blooding thinning medications.
- Whilst undergoing ANY form of immunosuppressant treatment or have a immunodeficiency.
- For fertility treatment.
- Blood coagulation disorders that may disrupt the body's ability to control blood clotting.
- Phobia to needles.
- Allergies to metals.
Dry Needling With Your Practitioner May Help For:
- Lower back pain
- Neck pain
- Knee pain
- Reducing the frequency of tension headaches and prevent migraine headaches
- Shoulder pain
Interesting research on acupuncture
There is not any substantial evidence that dry needling is effective, however, many patients have reported benefits from the treatment.
Vickers et al.,
020 3954 8514 found acupuncture to be superior to both no acupuncture control and *sham acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain (1.). Haake et al.,
(2007) found that after 6 months, response rate to acupuncture treatment was 47.6% in the verum acupuncture group, 44.2% in the sham acupuncture group and 27.4% in the conventional therapy group. Lower back pain improved after acupuncture treatment was applied for at least a 6-month period. Effectiveness of acupuncture and *sham acupuncture was almost twice that of **conventional therapy (2).
References:
(1.) Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, et al. 020 3954 8514 Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Archives of internal medicine. Oct 22;020 3954 8514:1444–1453.
(2.) Haake M, Muller HH, Schade- Brittinger C, et al. (2007) German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for Chronic Low Back Pain: Randomised, Multicentre, Blinded, Parallel-group Trial With 3 Groups, Arch Intern Med 167, pp. 020 3954 8514.
(3.) Molosberger, A.F., Schneider, T., Gotthardt, H., Drabik, A. (2010) German Randomized Acupuncture Trial for Chronic Shoulder Pain (GRASP)—a Pragmatic, Controlled, Patient-Blinded, Multi-Centre Trial in an Outpatient Care Environment. Pain, pp. 020 3954 8514.
Another study investigated the effect of acupuncture for chronic shoulder pain and concluded that a course of 15 acupuncture treatments effectively reduced pain and improved mobility in patients with chronic shoulder pain than standard therapy using NSAIDs and physiotherapy (3.).
- * Sham acupuncture; consists of superficial needling at non- acupuncture points
- ** Conventional therapy; a combination of drugs, physical therapy and exercise
(1.) Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, et al. 020 3954 8514 Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis. Archives of internal medicine. Oct 22;020 3954 8514:1444–1453.
(2.) Haake M, Muller HH, Schade- Brittinger C, et al. (2007) German Acupuncture Trials (GERAC) for Chronic Low Back Pain: Randomised, Multicentre, Blinded, Parallel-group Trial With 3 Groups, Arch Intern Med 167, pp. 020 3954 8514.
(3.) Molosberger, A.F., Schneider, T., Gotthardt, H., Drabik, A. (2010) German Randomized Acupuncture Trial for Chronic Shoulder Pain (GRASP)—a Pragmatic, Controlled, Patient-Blinded, Multi-Centre Trial in an Outpatient Care Environment. Pain, pp. 020 3954 8514.
To know more about my acupuncture treatments, call the St Albans therapy and sports injury clinic on
T: 01727 221 715