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

Treating Sciatica with Acupuncture and Acupressure (Tui Na)

http://jhsacupuncture.co.uk/treating-sciatica-acupuncture-acupressure

One of the most common complaints I see in my clinic is Sciatica and Sciatic type pain.  Generally patients will present when they are unsatisfied by the progress they are making with Western Medical treatment or they wish to reduce the amount of pain medication they are taking.  My rule of thumb is that you should see a good reduction in pain within 4 to 6 sessions at my clinic but you must continue with any medical advice or treatment unless you talk to your Doctor first.

Sciatica is generally used as a catch all term for a set of  symptoms  that can include; pain, which can be caused by general compression or irritation of one of five spinal nerve roots of each sciatic nerve or by compression or irritation of the left or right or both sciatic nerves leading to  lower back pain, buttock pain, and numbness, pain or weakness in various parts of the leg and foot, a “pins and needles” sensation, or tingling and difficulty moving or controlling the leg, numbness, muscle weakness and loss of tendon reflexes.

Typically, symptoms only manifest on one side of these body but can be on both sides in some cases and typically the pain will radiate above the knee, but every person will exhibit a unique set of presentations.

When you attend my clinic you will first have a full medical history taken and then I will ask a number of diagnostic questions and I will look at your tongue, take your pulse and palpate the area involved (please wear lose clothing).  I will then discuss with you my diagnosis and findings and hopefully answer any questions you have.  With your agreement we will start the treatment which will most likely included Tui Na (acupressure) massage, heat (either with a TDP Lamp or Moxa/Moxibustion) and Acupuncture, all of which is included in the first consultation and should last about 90 minuets.

In Traditional East Asian Medicine sciatica can have many causes  but it is most likely related  or caused by an imbalance to one of the zang-fu organs or meridians or an invasion of one of the six pathogenic factors into the body, meridians or organs.  No matter what the underlying cause I will try to give you an explanation that you understand and feel free to ask any questions.

Serious pain in your life has many consequences to your mood, sleep, family life, work and appetite and the sooner you get some relief the better, and don’t get me wrong I think that oral pain medication can have a dramatic effect on pain and its power should not be underestimated or ignored.  Your Doctor has your best interests at heart and will use the tools the tools they have to help you but in some cases it will not help, just as in some cases my treatments may not help, there is no guarantee but my clinical experience is that the majority of patients will see a reduction in their levels of pain over the first few sessions.

If you would like to make an appointment or to discuss your condition please don’t hesitate to contact me.

For the up to date research on this subject please see the BAcC (British Acupuncture Council) website here.

How acupuncture can help

There is now a body of research to show that acupuncture is significantly better than no treatment and also at least as good, if not better than, standard medical care for back pain.  There is less specific research on acupuncture for sciatica, but there is evidence to suggest that it may provide some pain relief (Wang 2009, Chen 2009, Inoue 2008, Wang 2004).

Acupuncture can help relieve back pain and sciatica by:

• stimulating nerves located in muscles and other tissues, which leads to release of endorphins and other neurohumoral factors, and changes the processing of pain in the brain and spinal cord (Pomeranz 1987, Zhao 2008).
• reducing inflammation, by promoting release of vascular and immunomodulatory factors (Kavoussi 2007, Zijlstra 2003).
• improving muscle stiffness and joint mobility by increasing local microcirculation (Komori 2009), which aids dispersal of swelling.
• causing a transient change in sciatic nerve blood flow, including circulation to the cauda equine and nerve root. This response is eliminated or attenuated by administration of atropine, indicating that it occurs mainly via cholinergic nerves (Inoue 2008).
• influencing the neurotrophic factor signalling system, which is important in neuropathic pain (Dong 2006).
• increasing levels of serotonin and noradrenaline, which can help reduce pain and speed nerve repair (Wang 2005).
• improving the conductive parameters of the sciatic nerve (Zhang 2005).
• promoting regeneration of the sciatic nerve (La 2005)