Does acupuncture work?

Forums › Health and fitness › Does acupuncture work?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

20427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099034 31-Jul-2014 09:39

If you go to a doctor with a physical problem they either send you for a scan or suggest you go to a physio. For my wrist my doctor said it'll recover, no scan needed. Physio said the same thing. Osteo said hey this thing here is out of place and put it back in place, which fixed it quite quickly, but then I hurt it again. He did it again and said go for acupuncture as it can help reduce inflammation which can help things heal more quickly. He told me what was going on, a tendon in a sheath is inflamed and rubbing, that's what he wants to reduce. He also said to use anti inflammatories and use it as little as possible. All in all his advice has been golden so far, so I'll give it a shot. I'll report back.

Tradepub

Free professional, reference and technical white papers (affiliate link).

Batman

Mad Scientist
29690 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099048 31-Jul-2014 09:53

timmmay: If you go to a doctor with a physical problem they either send you for a scan or suggest you go to a physio. For my wrist my doctor said it'll recover, no scan needed. Physio said the same thing. Osteo said hey this thing here is out of place and put it back in place, which fixed it quite quickly, but then I hurt it again. He did it again and said go for acupuncture as it can help reduce inflammation which can help things heal more quickly. He told me what was going on, a tendon in a sheath is inflamed and rubbing, that's what he wants to reduce. He also said to use anti inflammatories and use it as little as possible. All in all his advice has been golden so far, so I'll give it a shot. I'll report back.

let me summaries. your tendon sheath is allegedly inflammed (think of someone you've seen with an angry looking red eye - that's the eye inflammed).

your doctor and physio said best to leave it alone and wait for inflammation to settle. osteo gave you a temporary relieve and it came back straightaway suggesting he did nothing to fix the inflammation, but rather distracted your brain by twisting another normal bit which remains normal.

now you are trying acupuncture to reduce inflammation (i don't know how it does it), but remember, all the while the doctor and physio said time will fix it. which is what you are buying, time.

maybe ask novak djokovic, he had an inflammed sheath too - how did he fix his?

Batman

Mad Scientist
29690 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099050 31-Jul-2014 09:55

i know resting the bit can make inflammation go away faster, but some things are very hard to rest, and the problem is it is easily aggravated (inflammation comes back).

you tried a sports physician?

timmmay

20427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099090 31-Jul-2014 10:26

joker97: let me summaries. your tendon sheath is allegedly inflammed (think of someone you've seen with an angry looking red eye - that's the eye inflammed).

your doctor and physio said best to leave it alone and wait for inflammation to settle. osteo gave you a temporary relieve and it came back straightaway suggesting he did nothing to fix the inflammation, but rather distracted your brain by twisting another normal bit which remains normal.

now you are trying acupuncture to reduce inflammation (i don't know how it does it), but remember, all the while the doctor and physio said time will fix it. which is what you are buying, time.

maybe ask novak djokovic, he had an inflammed sheath too - how did he fix his?

Close. The osteo accelerated the natural healing a couple of months back. I then decided it was a good idea to go back to the gym and do heavy weights (benching near 100kg, plus shoulder press, curls around 50kg, moving heavy weights around, etc), and hurt it again. The osteo fixed something minor but said time will be the main thing that will fix it, but acupuncture may help accelerate things by reducing inflammation and he's seen it work before. He said there's no point going back to him again unless something changes. So I'll try his suggestion and rest is as much possible - difficult with a wrist on your dominant arm.

nakedmolerat

4625 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099094 31-Jul-2014 10:30

timmmay: If you go to a doctor with a physical problem they either send you for a scan or suggest you go to a physio. For my wrist my doctor said it'll recover, no scan needed. Physio said the same thing. Osteo said hey this thing here is out of place and put it back in place, which fixed it quite quickly, but then I hurt it again.

Obviously it does not work. Again hogwash.

He did it again and said go for acupuncture as it can help reduce inflammation which can help things heal more quickly. He told me what was going on, a tendon in a sheath is inflamed and rubbing, that's what he wants to reduce.

Inflammation will stop on its own. There are thousands of components in inflammation at the cellular level. Poking your skin with needle somehow will make it heal faster, it does not make sense.

He also said to use anti inflammatories and use it as little as possible.

Again, nonsense. Any rationale?

All in all his advice has been golden so far, so I'll give it a shot. I'll report back.

Do what you think works for you. Most people will try these type of 'alternative' medicine because they don't have to pay.

The truth is, back pain, inflammation etc will always stop at some point.

The other problem is people now think they know everything because they have Dr Google and Textbook Wikipedia or whatever journal/review that they can access online.

timmmay

20427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099123 31-Jul-2014 10:45

nakedmolerat, you've made your opinion abundantly clear. I think you might be best avoid posting further this thread.

timmmay: He also said to use anti inflammatories and use it as little as possible.

nakedmolerat:Again, nonsense. Any rationale?

Apparently tendons are in a sheath. If the sheath or tendon are inflamed they're larger than usual, and can rub on the sheath, causing additional inflamation. That's what I've been told, I can't say whether it's right or wrong.

cnor152

72 posts

Master Geek

#1099140 31-Jul-2014 10:56

The problem of the mindset "who cares if it is a placebo", is you aren't actually fixing your problem. Just masking it, which can be a problem if it is a serious injury. So I advise at least going to a real medical professional first, then you can decide whether or not to partake in pseudoscience.

Personally I wouldn't support the industry with my money.

timmmay

20427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099151 31-Jul-2014 11:11

Doctor and physio were consulted first. Doctor basically said "it's fine just rest it". Physio said the same. Yet the problem keeps coming back.

Bung

6356 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1099204 31-Jul-2014 12:02

Simon Singh and Prof Edzard Ernst have a chapter on acupuncture in their book "Trick or Treatment"

Ernst a Professor of complementary medicine developed a telescoping needle for use in acupuncture trials. The telescoping needle feels the same as a standard needle but doesn't penetrate the skin. Paraphrasing from the book - Real acupuncture in trials performs only slightly better than sham acupuncture, increasingly it is looking as if it is nothing more than a placebo.

darkasdes2

418 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1099556 31-Jul-2014 19:00

timmmay: Doctor and physio were consulted first. Doctor basically said "it's fine just rest it". Physio said the same. Yet the problem keeps coming back.

Hi Timmay

What is the diagnosis if your problem?

timmmay

20427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099575 31-Jul-2014 19:15

darkasdes2: What is the diagnosis if your problem?

Doc and physio both think I sprained or bruised something, neither think any kind of scan is required, and neither can be more specific. This is the second time it's recurred, which doesn't include the original injury. It was fully recovered when I hurt it again a couple of months ago, which was 6 months after initial injury. It recovered and then got hurt again.

Doctor's are pretty rubbish for this sort of thing, physios too apparently.

NZtechfreak

4649 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1099601 31-Jul-2014 19:55

Not even sure if I should post in this thread... I see a lot of views that lack nuance here, from all quarters of the discussion, which is hardly surprising since I'm guessing most here don't have any real training or experience in the areas being touched upon.

If I have more time later I will post some thoughts...

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

Reanalyse

379 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1099632 31-Jul-2014 20:33

Interestingly there was a BBC documentary about the Placebo effect, that did show that even when a person was totally aware there was no active element in the pills being taken she still had relief from the condition when taking them, and when the trial stopped she needed to get identical (inactive) pills.
So even with full awareness the knowledge that a person is "doing something" and "someone cares and is helping" appears to be enough to make real positive physiological changes. The main difference in effectiveness in Placebo interventions was how 'caring" the practitioner appeared to the patient

Batman

Mad Scientist
29690 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099635 31-Jul-2014 20:35

timmmay:
darkasdes2: What is the diagnosis if your problem?

Doc and physio both think I sprained or bruised something, neither think any kind of scan is required, and neither can be more specific. This is the second time it's recurred, which doesn't include the original injury. It was fully recovered when I hurt it again a couple of months ago, which was 6 months after initial injury. It recovered and then got hurt again.

Doctor's are pretty rubbish for this sort of thing, physios too apparently.

You don't go to a civil engineer to fix your car. I do recommend a sports physician.

timmmay

20427 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1099652 31-Jul-2014 20:47

The physio I went to is part of a practice that has a a sports physician, who I've seen before for something else. I guess I could ask for a referral.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4