does acupuncture really work?

I do hope my scientist brother knows what he's talking about as I've taken his advice on many medical matters including trying to avoid the dependence on painkillers if alternative treatments work.

It is supposed to help women become and to stay pregnant if a miscarriage is threatened.
Certainly I have heard it vouched for in that instance.

Scientists swear by ibuprofen for pain relief. I can't take it as it affects my breathing.
I much prefer using lavender for headaches, or acupressure.

Yes it definitely does work!! Be sure to go a proper acupuncturist though!!

I saw and osteopath some years ago for my slipped disc and dreadful sciatica. I had had many sessions of physio which did nothing. The osteopath used traditional osteopathy - manipulation etc and aslo cranial osteopathy. I wasn't progressing much at all until she used acupuncture needles attached to a TENS machine. Then I started to get better. She tried treating my arthritic hands in this way but it didn't work. I had several extreme bouts of sciatica over the years but none since I lost four stone in weight.

Our GP doesn't like anyone using ibuprofen or any nsaids because of the risk of stomach bleeding.

I would definitely try acupuncture if I had an ongoing problem like sciatica.

The acupuncturist who treated my sciatica did so because he knew it worked.
He was a sports physio for a rugby team, and got sciatica himself, to the extent that he told me he sometimes felt like throwing himself out of the window.
Acupuncture worked for him, so then he studied acupuncture and reflexology.

A friend of mine had acupuncture for pain relief and was convinced it cured her hay fever also. I looked up the research data on the Cochrane review site and the double blind trial findings show very little evidence for effectiveness over placebo. Then I started wondering how much conventional medical treatment also has a placebo effect, and who cares if it works in the end? If I was in chronic pain I would try everything.

Didn't work for my migraines and alarmingly, I felt very faint a few minutes after leaving the practitioner's surgery on each of the three occasions I attended. I felt it was best to give it up at that stage. A complete waste of money in my case.

Yes acupuncture has worked really well for me. But my mother had sciatica and was told by the physiotherapist to lie on her back on the floor with her calves on a dining-room chair for twenty minutes twice a day and she swore by it. I have passed that tip on to other people and they have all found it really good.

Didn't work at all for me but my OH has it for severe back pain whilst waiting for knee and hip replacement surgery and says that it has helped him tremendously. He gets his acupuncture treatment via the pain clinic. I paid for mine privately. If it works for you, who cares if it's a placebo or not. Pain relief is pain relief, however it's obtained

Grandma70 If it is only a placebo effect, then why do they use it for animals, in particular - racehorses? This is a fact. When my daughter was thinking of becoming a practitioner, her acupuncturist advised her to go into veterinary acupuncture - said she'd make a bomb here in Italy working with racehorses. Unfortunately, the training is very lengthy.

Many conventional medicines also work by placebo, changing colour of packet etc - people believe it works better . I had acupuncture for rsi and it did relieve it, Conventional medicine couldn’t do anything. If it was placebo so what- it worked. The power of the mind shouldn’t be dismissed.

I also found it worked for a shoulder injury I had suffered from for years. I do not care at all if it is a placebo effect as long as it works.
A scientist or expert can always be found to argue that something does or doesn't work. Homeopathy is a case in point - so many people say it is a con but cannot explain why it works on animals. It did not work with me personally however, but did on my friends pony.
I have tried Reiki but thought it a lot of mumbo jumbo. Others swear by it. Who are we to judge if it works for whoever wants it to.
If GP's were to hand out more placebos it might not be a bad idea !

Certainly placebos have their place, and we’re all a bit susceptible to the placebo effect. I agree that if it works then it doesn’t really matter whether it’s the placebo effect or not.

What those who prefer evidence-based medical treatments find alarming is that so many people are conned by the alternative therapy traders. Homeopathy is a complete con, though no doubt some of the people who promote it really believe in it. If it appears to work on animals it is coincidence - or it’s working on the owners!

I don’t want to go on about my brother, but he is a world authority on medicines and their effects - or non-effects - so I do tend to listen to him.

A physiotherapist offered me acupuncture for a very annoying hip pain, after I had no improvement from doing exercises she gave me - it had actually got worse.
I had no great belief in it so was very surprised that it helped immensely.
Two treatments only, and I was a lot better, and have remained so. It was 2 or 3 years ago.

I had acupuncture for neck pain. It did seem to work and one day, when I went for a session, I also had a bad headache which I didn't mention to the acupuncturist. When I left, it suddenly occurred to me that as well as the neck pain, the headache had also disappeared.

Interesting, anno. That can't be placebo, because it assumes you know what you want to happen.

Exactly, dj. That convinced me.

Annodomini, perhaps your neck pain was caused by unconscious severe muscle tension in your neck muscles. The tension may have affected also the muscles that work your scalp.

It works if you want it to work. Sometimes. Rather like religion. If you can swallow it, you may well benefit. Beware of expensive fakes.

I’d like to tell you Travelsafar - after I had Sciatica, I have nerve damage apparently in my back which doesn’t seem a problem but the sock in your shoe makes me think you may have a Morten’s Neuroma. I have developed two apparently after having Ultrasound BUT don’t have an operation on your feet - they never seem to be the right thing to do and very often leave one worse off than before. I find these Neuromas not much of a problem - limp a bit occasionally but Sciatica has left me a bit wobbly and occasionally my left leg gives way. Oh happy days!! I’ve had acupuncture on my back many years ago by the man who taught everybody else and it was fantastic.

Hello Merlotgran. For plantar fasciitis which I had on and off for two years I truly recommend Vicks thickly spread on your feet, covered with socks for a few nights. Cured mine totally after spending a fortune with a physiotherapist.

Not for me BUT I suspect the doctor who did it did not do it properly. Also I was in excruciating pain with it and he left the room, me on my own, unable to move. Probably you must get a good practitioner. Essential in fact!

Yes it does. I used to work at a clinic where I regularly saw people come in with pain & leave without. They had mainly osteopaths but also an acupuncturist.
I am needle phobic but he did finally get me to try it & it was not at all unpleasant & it did work ( for constantly running eyes in summer). No -the needles went in nowhere near my eyes - in my arm I think.
DH had it to lower blood pressure too,
He had excellent results with bad period pains too.