https://jhsacupuncture.co.uk/back-neck-muscle-pain

Back, Neck and Muscle pain, can Acupuncture help?

Reported on the BBC – The UK economy is slowly recovering, but the country’s workforce is in considerable pain. See the full article here

In this report the BBC state that Almost 31 million days of work were lost last year due to back, neck and muscle problems and according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the the ONS’s Labour Force Survey, found that musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, which include a large range of bone, joint and muscle complaints, accounted for more prolonged absences than any other ailment!

Although the United Kingdom’s workforce, along with other countries  that have lost or given up their manufacturing base, has largely swapped heavy manual labour for sitting in offices. MSKs have been the primary cause of absenteeism for the past five years, and we in the UK have one of the highest rates in Europe.  The Work Foundation estimates that employees suffering from bone, joint and/or muscle pain cost the EU’s economies 240bn euros (£200bn) each year.  So why have MSK complaints persisted?

“Sitting is the new smoking,” explains Prof Steve Bevan, director of the Centre for Workforce Effectiveness at the Work Foundation.”The more sedentary you are the worse it is for your health.”

Early detection

Once symptoms do occur, we in the UK are slow to react. A two-year trial in Madrid showed that by assessing and treating 13,000 workers with MSKs who had been off for five days or more, their temporary work absence was reduced by 39% in the long term.  The Work Foundation estimates that more than 60,000 Britons would be available for work if the Madrid tactics were replicated in the UK.

However, even the more careful among us are at risk of MSKs, and the workplace may have little to do with it.

“People forget how common musculoskeletal problems are,” Prof Anthony Woolf, a rheumatologist at the Royal Cornwall Hospital. 

Indeed, alarm bells have been ringing for some time over the impact of musculoskeletal diseases.  In 2000, then-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan launched the Bone and Joint Decade at the World Health Organization in Switzerland, an initiative designed to reduce the number of MSKs around the globe.  Not much has changed since. A study by medical journal The Lancet,  Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 – published in 2012, found that musculoskeletal conditions were the second greatest cause of disability in the world, affecting over 1.7 billion people worldwide.

How can Acupuncture help?

MSK pain is generally seens as Qi/Xua Stagnation or Bi Syndrome which may be due to Injury/Trauma, Pathogenic Qi Invasion or disease within the ZangFu, all of which probably makes no sense to anyone not trained in Chinese Medicen so here is a quick overview:

Qi/Xua Stagnation – The rough translation here is Energy (Qi or Yang)/Blood (Xua or Yin) stagnation which basically means something has happened to stop the normal flow of the essential Qi and or Blood in an area of the body and is generally caused by injury/trauma.  This stagnation can lead to many different types of pain in any area of the body and if untreated can lead to disease within the ZangFu (Yin/Yang Organs) due to the impairment of natural energy flow.

Bi Syndrome – Painful Obstruction is a very difficult subject in Asian Medicine as it can cover any part of the body and is generally, but not always, connected with a pathogenic invasion of Qi (which in its self is a difficult concept for the western mind), but normally will have some of the following associated:

• Invasion of Wind, Cold and Damp or Wind, Heat and Damp in the Meridians
• Weakness of the body due to Yang Deficiency
• Qi and Blood Deficiencies due to childbirth or long term illness causing Wei Qi Deficiency
• Overstraining, hence weakening the body
• A Yang excess constitution, a Yin Deficient constitution or long standing Wind-Cold-Damp, stagnation may turn into Heat Bi

Disease within the ZangFu – ZangFu translates as Yin/Yang Organs within the body.  If the ZangFu are diseased then then the energy within the meridians will not flow correctly and this may lead to Qi/Xua stagnation and hence pain.

With all the above I would used a combination of Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Tui Na Massage or Acupressure and Qi Gong exercise, depending on the exact diagnosis I may use Fire Cupping and I would hope to see improvement in 4 to 6 sessions.

Here are some fact sheets related to MSK conditions:

• Sciatica
• Sports Injuries
• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis)
• Osteoarthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Facial pain or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder
• Persistent (chronic) pain
• Back Pain

Its also worth noting that you can have treatment and continue with your pain medication until such time as you agree with your Doctor that you can reduce or stop however you should always tell your Acupuncturist all the medication you are taking.

If you would like to speak to me or arrange an appointment please contact me

Acupuncture and Moxabustion for Breech Birth

One of the most common questions I get asked is “can acupuncture help with breech birth”, the simple answer is yes it can but I use Moxabustion (Moxa) and Acupuncture.

From a western medical perspective a breech presentation is when the baby exits the pelvis with the buttocks or feet first as opposed to the normal head-first presentation, and there are a number of presentations:

• Frank breech – where the baby’s bottom comes first with their legs flexed at the hip and extended at the knees so that the feet are near the ears and approximately 65–70% of breech babies are in the frank breech position.
• Complete breech –  the baby is sitting cross-legged, with feet beside the bottom.
• Footling breech – one or both feet exit first and the bottom is at a higher position; this is more common with premature foetuses than full term births.
• Kneeling breech – the baby is in a kneeling position, with one or both legs extended at the hips and flexed at the knees; this is extremely rare.

In most cases by week 37 most breech presentations will turn naturally and no intervention will be needed. However if the breech presentation persists then depending on where you live it may be possible to find a Doctor or mid-wife who will be willing to perform a vaginal breech birth but these are rare in my experience.

A bottom-down position presents some hazards to the baby during the process of birth, and the mode of delivery (Vaginal versus Caesarean) is controversial in the fields of obstetrics and midwifery and though vaginal birth is possible for the breech baby, certain foetal and maternal factors influence the safety of vaginal breech birth which leads to the vast majority of breech babies born, in the west, being delivered byCaesarean section mainly due to the lack of training and experience within western medical practitioners.  It should be noted that in most cases a breech birth, if handled by a suitably experience doctor or mid-wife can be safely delivered vaginally.

Generally in England mid-wife’s will attempt an EVC (External cephalic version) in an attempt to turn the baby by manipulating the baby through the mother’s abdomen. ECV has a success rate between 40–70% depending on practitioner.

For centuries traditional practitioners from East Asia have been using Moxa (Moxibustion) to turn breach presentations with out the need to manipulate the mother and thus avoid any stressors that may be incumbent in an EVC.

Moxibustion is a type of Chinese medicine which involves burning a herb (Mugwort or Artemisia vulgaris) close to the skin over the acupuncture point Bladder 67 (BL67) (Chinese name Zhiyin, Reaching Yin), located at the tip of the fifth toe, has been proposed as a way of correcting breech presentation.  The Cochrane Library (which can be found here), in 2012, conducted a gold standard review of the evidence and concluded that:

There is some evidence to suggest that moxibustion may be useful for turning babies from breech presentation (bottom first) to cephalic presentation (head first) for labour when used with either acupuncture or postural techniques of knee to chest or lifting buttocks while lying on the side.

Moxa brings energy in to the Foot Taiyang (Greater Yang) Meridian (often called the Urinary Bladder Channel (UB)) at the point where the Foot Taiyang meets the Foot Shaoyin (Lesser Yin) Meridian connect, helping to regulate and tonify Qi. If the Qi is not sufficient or is exhausted  will be difficult to maintain the fetus in the correct position as the foetus requires both Shaoyin Qi and Taiyang Qi.

A deficiency of Qi also causes lack of strength, making the labor difficult. UB 67 regulates and tonifies Qi.

Click here for my definition of Qi

See here for Wikipedia definition of Qi

It is important to understand that in any treatment there are certain factors that can be contraindications and moxa is no different so it is important to establish that there is no:

• Recent uterine surgery, including Caesarean section
• Low-lying placenta, placenta previa
• Uterine or pelvic abnormalities, eg uterine fibroids, septum: obstetric staff clearance advised
• Insufficient liquor (oligohydramnios) or excessive liquor (poly-hydramnios): obstetric staff clearance advised
• History of any bleeding in pregnancy, antepartum haemorrhage
• Threatened premature labour
• Any query about ruptured membranes
• Any fetal distress
• Fetal abnormality, any sign of compromised foetus
• Multiple pregnancy
• Significant maternal hypertension, any signs of pre-eclampsia, diabetes, cardiac problems or thyroid disease: obstetric staff clearance advise
• Rh negativity
• Where Caesarean section is to be performed for other reasons

The best results are seen when Moxa is used for a 10 day period for 20 mins per day, now clearly that would be beyond most peoples finances to visit an acupuncturist for 10 days in a row so I have developed a special package where I come to your home and teach the mother and partner how to apply the moxa treatment and provide 10 days of moxa at a cost of £50.

If you would like to contact me to book your treatment or if  you have any questions please contact me here.

I completed my Acupuncture and Moxabustion CPD training with Jani White in 2011