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Accupuncture

Posted , 6 users are following.

constance.de
constance.de

This has probably been asked before, but I can't find it!!

I know some of you have had acc - but did it help?  I have only had 5 sessions so far, but can't say it has helped a lot.  Would like to hear your comments.

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • EileenH
    EileenH constance.de

    Posted

    I have never come across anyone who said it had helped - but that doesn't mean it hasn't I suppose. I do remember someone saying she'd had a few treatments but it hadn't done much - but I believe that it can take quite a few sessions before it is seen to do a lot. Being somewhat sceptical by nature I then have to wonder how much that has to do with the therapist having a longer period of income from people.

    I have had something called "needling" which is subcutaneous injections, sometimes with muscle relaxants, sometimes cortisone, sometimes just saline, which just touch the muscles and seem to lead somehow to relaxing them whatever is in them. The anaesthetist who did them for me (part of the health care system here) said that the trigger points she was aiming for are, in some cases at least, the same trigger points that are part of the acupuncture meridians. She thought it was possible that the acupuncture effect was gained in much the same way as what she was doing - and that certainly worked but it worked quite fast, after one or two sessions. 

    I work on the approach that I will try anything reasonably sensible (not angels, reiki and stuff, sorry if anyone is offended) and if it helps I'll try it again. That led me to try Bowen therapy whichI and several others HAVE found to help a lot. And a good therapist will tell you that if it is going to help you see a difference in 3 sessions, if it hasn't done something by then it is unlikely to do so. So it isn't an open-ended and bottomless pit for your hard-earned cash. Apparently a health trust in the north of England is funding a trial of it to see if it helps in certain conditions.

    • constance.de
      constance.de EileenH

      Posted

      Hi, Eileen.  Luckily the national health over here pays for 15 sessions, so I will continue (otherwise I'll have to pay it all back! )  Will let you know how I get on.
    • EileenH
      EileenH constance.de

      Posted

      If anyone had offered it to me on the NHS I'd have had a go like a shot! I've always wanted to try it but the cost defeated me! 
    • constance.de
      constance.de EileenH

      Posted

      Hallo Eileen!  I said I would let you know how I got on with acupuncture.

      Well, sorry to say (after 15 sessions!)  it hasn't helped an awful lot.  I personally don't think it is much help with PMR.  However, I know it has helped many people with other "difficulties".  I have two friends who gave up smoking (practically over night!) and they didn't even have withdrawal symptoms.  Also an aquaintance who really needed a double hip operation but refused, being over 80 he didn't want to take the risk.  He said the acu took away about half the pain, therefore he needed half the pain killers!!  

      Have a good weekend.  Constance

       

    • constance.de
      constance.de EileenH

      Posted

      Forgot to say! I have now been accepted for a one and a half year aqua training course (paid by the German health system).  I know water is very good for me so I am looking forward to it.
    • EileenH
      EileenH constance.de

      Posted

      That is brilliant - that is the sort of thing I missed so badly when we went back to the UK. It wasn't too bad though as the local Bannatyne's gym had daily aqua classes and daytime Mon-Fri membership was the princely sum then of about £30 and I definitely got my money's worth! Here is a totally different kettle of fish, there is aqua for the older generation at the local pool but it isn't cheap ( you pay the weekly charge for the class as well as the entry to our super-dooper-aimed at the tourists pool. When I went to investigate it was "off for the summer". The thought of going out at present at -6C to go and get my hair wet for coming home is hardly encouraging!
  • Nefret
    Nefret constance.de

    Posted

    I was lucky enough to get 12 acupuncture sessions early on (on NHS) and I did find it helped.  It was concentrated more on my head and shoulders as they were the problematic areas at the time and it kept me going for all of one very nasty winter with cold winds, sleet and frosts.  I have always found that kind of weather difficult to tolerate - I get very tense - so it came at just the right time.

    However, I have also had Bowen therapy this year and that has suited me even more and I do believe it is worth trying for anyone needing relief of muscle/tension pain.

    • erika59785
      erika59785 Nefret

      Posted

      Thanks for the comment.  I will suggest Bowen therapy to my Therapist today.  I agree with you about the weather which turned to VERY cold suddenly here in the Pacific Northwest and I am in much more pain.
  • mrsmop
    mrsmop constance.de

    Posted

    One of my, now retired, GPs started doing accupuncture and he gave it to me for my tennis elbow.  It helped tremendously, much more effective than a steroid injection.  I have asked about it recently because I learned that it is now available on the NHS.  I have been referred to the Physios because it is apparently they who do it locally.

    I only tried it originally because it was a doctor offering it.  I wouldn't trust a 'Practitioner'.

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