Acupuncture For Joints and Muscles

Acupuncture is particularly useful in treating back and neck pain, muscle and joint problems and headaches. Such musculoskeletal conditions can be treated very successfully as it not only alleviates pain, but reduces muscle spasm, and inflammation thereby increasing mobility.

Joint damage often results from muscle misuse, and a lot of patients complain of joint pain before any dramatic changes are recognisable by X-ray. In these cases, acupuncture can bring about a significant improvement, avoiding permanent damage.

Many controlled studies of acupuncture for muscle and joint annd spinal pain (including arthritis) have provided evidence to show it has better results in comparison to standard therapy treatment (such as physio and drug pain relief). In fact The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines on best practice now recommend that GPs use acupuncture as a first line treatment for persistent, non-specific low back pain.

This published evidence includes the following conditions (click to find out more):


Arthritis and Oesteoarthritis (and knee pain)

• Lower Back Pain
• Bursitis
• Cervical Spondylitis and Neck pain
• Chronic Pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Inflammation and Swelling
• Tendonitis / Tennis elbow
• Sciatica
• Sports Injuries
• Frozen Shoulder

Will acupuncture work for me?

The effect of acupuncture is usually accumulative and its pain relief/anti inflammatory benefits builds up as treatment progresses. Some patients may feel worse initially, and most generally require at least four to six treatments before noticing any change. Acupuncture does not work for everybody or for every condition, but good results are frequently achieved when more conventional treatments have been tried and failed.

What are the benefits of acupuncture?

With an injury or a condition due to overuse, by reducing your pain (and drug therapy) with treatment you will be able to start your recovery and return to normal activities in the shortest possible time. If you have a chronic condition the emphasis is always on helping you to have more control of your symptoms and to become independent of acupuncture.

Book An Appointment
Jo George offers an Acupuncture Treatment Packages – this is a special price for a course of treatments (minimum 4) at a reduced charge of £35 per treatment. Call the clinic 01780 480889 to arrange a consultation (1.5 hrs) or Jo is happy to discuss yoour or your familes particular health condition before booking.

Acupuncture for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Arthritis is a common complaint of patients seeking acupuncture. The most common diagnosis within this broad category are those people who suffer with osteoarthritis which is an chronic inflammation and degeneration of the articular cartilage. Most commonly found in the major weight bearing joints it is also most notable in the joints of the hands and fingers. The cartilage breakdown and inflammation produces spurring in and around the joints.

The acupuncture addresses the inflammation and muscular guarding and tension that occur around the joint spaces. This decrease in tension allows for less irritation in the joints and a marked decrease in pain. Despite the presence of spurring there is substantial evidence to show a marked decrease in pain levels that persist as treatment progresses. Acupuncture is also beneficial for rheumatoid arthritis: whilst it may not improve already-damaged joints, it does give much pain relief. More importantly however, acupuncture works to reduce the inflammation and also improves the dysfunctional immune system.

Acupuncture For Back Pain

The condition affects more than 1.1 million people in the UK, with 95% of patients suffering from problems affecting the lower back. Most lower back pain is caused not by serious damage or disease, but by sprains, muscle strains, minor injuries, or a pinched or irritated nerve. It can also occur during pregnancy, or because of stress, viral infection or a kidney infection.

The back supports most of our daily activities. Through repetitive use (often misuse) we develop postures that are not as capable of changing and adapting to stresses as they need to be. Muscular strain occurs and is the most common form of back discomfort; the most coomon back pain felt early on. These repetitive ways of being become fixed in us and often unconsciously become more problematic in later years. The muscular system is a structure that is inherrently balanced, so when this balance gets altered by stresses that are unable to be absorbed and distributed evenly it produces pain patterns.

Acupuncture acts to release the areas where muscles are too tight and support or tone those that are weakened by disuse, and reduce any inflammation or swelling. The result is a more fully functioning balanced back with the ability to support us in our daily life.

Acupuncture For Bursitis

Bursitis is the inflammation of the sac that surrounds our major joints, which usually causes pain. These sacs are fluid filled and lubricate the joint space where movement happens, often located between tendons or between tendons and bone. Acupuncture treatment may be used to control the pain, reduce the inflammation, and relieve pressure through targeting specific muscles in the area. Weather changes may also affect this structure. Acupuncture and related techniques are used and are very effective in reducing the

Acupuncture For Cerivical Spondylitis and Neck pain

Rheumatologic conditions range from osteoarthritis to rheumatoid arthritis and akylosing spondylitis. This covers a wide range of disorders affecting joints and soft tissue.

Acupunctures regulatory effect on structure and physilogic processes allows for pain and inflammatory reduction. Acupuncture is often used alongside medications which when taken decrease or arrest joint erosion. Acupuncture through its actions often allow for lower dosing of medication used in the treatment of rheumatologic conditions.

Acupuncture For Chronic Pain

Pain that is 'always there' has many causes. Acupuncture's success in this area is because it addresses both the underlying cause of the pain as well as the pain signal. This process regulates the central nervous system memory of pain to reduce its cyclical hold on the person, and interupt the well worn pattern.

Acupuncture For Fibromyalgia (FMS)

Fibromyalgia is a noninflammatory disorder of the soft tissue. It is usually starts due to a traumatic injury, illness or emotional upset which unbalances the normal recovery of the bodies muscles, which then do not operate properly. Distressing symptoms are then commonly seen such as pain, fatigue, sleep and digestive disorders. Of those with a diagnosis of FMS 70% fit the clinical picture for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Acupuncture has been studied and found to be very effective in the treatment of fatigue, pain and sleep in CFS, and is also effective in the treatment of digestive disorders and stress reduction in FMS.

Acupuncture For Inflammation / Swelling

Inflammatory conditions, whether a tendonitis, fixed muscular pattern, internal organ or joint malfunction can be addressed by acupuncture. Not all of the physiology is well understood but good quality research has shown that acupuncture treatment produces cortisol, the body's natural steroid. This, along with a general easing of over - reaction in the peripheral nervous system, combines to reduce pain, increase mobility of inflammatory disorders.

Acupuncture addresses inflammation and swelling both directly and indirectly. Local acupuncture treatment at the site of inflammation prmotes the inflammatory positive bio chemicals directly. Once these reactions are triggered over a few days, a cummalative anti-inflammatory response happens, frequently accompanied by a decrease in swelling and pain from pre-treatment levels. Acupuncture can also achieve additional gains through targeting muscular tone in areas where it generates strain on the inflamed tissue.

Acupuncture For Tendonitis

Generally speaking, tendonitis will develop when the stresses on a tendon overwhelm the body's ability to repair. This may be due to a poorly designed exercise progamme, with inadequate rest periods or inappropriate exercies for specific muscle conditioning. Any activity performed frequently with poor posture or discipline will place stress on a weak structural link—often a tendon.

An effective tool in all forms of tendonitis, acupuncture reduces inflammation and eases movement restrictions allowing for a smoother, easier recovery. If combined with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory medication recovery is accelerated allowing for a sooner withdrawal from the medication without rebound. At the same time, it can be used for targeting specific muscles to reinforce or retrain proper body posture patterns. This often can address the root cause of the inflammation and pain. In lighter cases where overuse through work is not a factor acupuncture alone is sufficient.

Tennis elbow is considered an overload injury, and it typically occurs after minor trauma of the extensor muscles of the forearm; tennis is a direct cause in only 5% of people with the condition. It is primarily a type of tendonitis though the muscles and bones of the epicondyle joint may also be involved. Pain can also occur on the inner side of the elbow, which is known as golfer's elbow. Although generally self-limiting, symptoms of tennis elbow can persist for 1.5 to 2 years or even longer in a minority of people.

Acupuncture For Sciatica

The sciatic nerve is commonly agitated in two places: first, at the roots of nerves exiting the spine in the lower back, and second, in the hip region an area where itt passes through. Whether the inflammation results from spinal structures in the lower back pinching the nerve roots, or from deep muscles of the hip (usually the piriformis) squeezing the nerve itself, symptoms (pain) can be felt the length of the nerve pathway, from hip to foot.

Acupuncture is effective in the treatment of this common complaint by its ability to release the structural restriction (tight muscules), reducing inflammatory agents in the body which causes an anti-inflammatory response to happen. This allows the body to realign and come back into balance without pain!

Acupuncture For Sport Injuries

A popular sports injury is sprains and strains. Acupuncture's anti-inflammatory effects can benefit acutely injured muscle, tendon, or ligament. All patients, and particularly athletes and physically active individuals, may benefit from acupuncture's muscle-cueing, motor pattern influences to address the faulty body mechanics that predispose one to injury. Interestly Acupuncture has been employed for many years by the Chinese Olympic Teams in the training and performance regimens of their atheletes.

Acupuncture For Frozen Sholder

Acupuncture can improve recovery in patients with a frozen shoulder, either when used alone or in combination with physiotherapy. Acupuncture benefits can reduce pain, inflammation, muscle and joint stiffness, and so may help in the treatment of frozen shoulder.

Research has shown that acupuncture acheives these results 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; reducing inflammation, by promoting release of vascular and immunomodulatory factors; and finally enhancing local microcirculation, by increasing blood flow in the muscles.