Acupuncture and Back Pain (By Flora
Dowling)
Every year millions of people consult their doctors about pain.
Chronic back pain is one of the most frequent complaint and
rivals only arthritis as being the cause of most missed days
of work. A lingering pain condition can be totally disabling.
People
with chronic painful conditions often seek medical treatment
thinking of their body like their cars. All the doctor needs
to do is to find out why they are in pain and then make it go
away by cutting the right nerve or give them some magic pill
or injection. Unfortunately things are rarely that simple, the
diagnostic tests such as X-Rays, Myleograms and CAT scans
frequently don’t show very much in spite of the pain. Surgery
is often unsuccessful and can leave the patient with worse pain
and disability. Conventional treatment relies on painkiller
and anti-inflammatory drugs. A standard treatment for severe
arthritis is cortisone steroids, sometimes by injection. Cortisone
has undesirable side effects even aspirin may cause stomach
ulcers. The harm that these drugs do to a patient’s general
health often outweighs their temporary advantage. Ultimately,
some are told, at the end of a long and frustrating treatment
course that they are going to have to learn to live with their
condition.
Acupuncture can give us
valuable choices in the treatment of these acute and chronic
conditions. Chinese Medicine
is a powerful and complete system of medicine that has diagnosed,
treated and prevented illness for well over 2000 years. There
is a full range of effective treatments of both rheumatoid arthritis
and osteoarthritis. It is possible to take away a chronic knee,
elbow or back pain that has plagued a patient for months or
years.
It is sometimes asked ‘Do I have to believe in acupuncture
for it to work’? Acupuncture is used successfully on cats,
dogs, horses and other animals; they do not understand or believe
in the process that helps them get better!
One
modern scientific explanation of acupuncture that can help us
understand its effectiveness, is that needling the acupuncture
points stimulates the nervous system to release chemicals in
the muscles, spinal cord and brain. These endorphins, cortisol,
ACTH will either change the experience of pain or they will
trigger the release of other chemicals and hormones that influence
the body’s own internal regulating system. Some of these
substances are 50 to 100 times more potent at pain relief than
many prescription drugs. The improved energy and biochemical
balance produced by acupuncture results in stimulating the body’s
natural healing abilities, and promoting physical and emotional
well-being.
Positive results can be achieved relatively quickly with acupuncture
which works in a safe way, encouraging the body to promote natural
healing and functioning. In arthritis, previously tender muscles
relax following a successful treatment; much of the immobility,
pain and sometimes the swelling over the joints disappears;
at the same time, the patient feels a great deal better. In
osteoarthritic conditions, where the adjacent bony surfaces
are worn away over time, the needles are not going to alter
the X-ray changes. However, it is remarkable how well a patient
can function in spite of these changes if he is free from pain
and stiffness.
Many patients have their pain, swelling and stiffness significantly
relieved by the time they have 6-10 acupuncture treatments.
Often, patients experience relief from pain during their first
treatment. They have been able to reduce, discontinue the corticoids,
phenylbutazone and lead a more normal life. Before subjecting
a patient to the hazards of surgery, acupuncture should be given
a chance to relieve the symptoms.
Acupuncture
can work wonders in almost any kind of back pain. Whiplash from
car accidents is a very common injury. X-Rays are often negative
but the pains in the neck, back and headache may persist for
many years. Acupuncture is the most effective and safest treatment
for whiplash. It relieves muscle spasms and pain promptly. Slipped
or degenerative discs cause severe pain in neck or lumber area
or the back problem can often be a muscle and ligament problem.
The spine’s mobility decreases; and weakness, spasm and
pain commonly follow. Acupuncture can have marked improvement
in a short period of time. That is one of the Chinese medicine’s
strongest strengths -- significant reduction of pain without
the prolonged use of drugs.
Acupuncture can be effective as the only treatment for arthritic
conditions and back pain but it is also very compatible with
other forms of health care, with medical doctors, physiotherapists,
chiropractors, and osteopath. Chinese medicine greatly enhances
the effect of other therapies, and reduces unwanted side effects
from various drugs. More and more medical insurance companies
cover acupuncture. The financial benefits of keeping patients
healthy with low cost, makes more sense than paying the high
cost of intervention with drugs, surgery and other invasive,
dangerous and expensive tests and therapies.
References: http://www.flojo.demon.co.uk/pain.htm
