Helix Clinic blog

Low back pain is very common and affects one in three adults in the UK every year. An estimated 2.5 million people seek help for this condition from their GP. For many people the pain goes away after a short time but for some, the pain can become chronic and very debilitating.

In a recent guideline, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has said that anyone whose pain persists for more than six weeks and up to a year should be given a choice of several treatments to try on the NHS.

In addition to painkillers and regular advice to stay active and carry on with normal activities as much as possible, patients, together with their doctor, can decide to try up to 10 sessions of acupuncture over a 12 week period.

Professor Peter Littlejohns, NICE Clinical and Public Health Director said: “This new NICE guideline means that for the first time we now have the means for a consistent national approach to managing low back pain.

“Importantly, patients whose pain is not improving should have access to a choice of different therapies including acupuncture, structured exercise and manual therapy.”

This news is very positive for the public perception of acupuncture, as it implicitly acknowledges a number of research studies that show acupuncture is effective in the treatment of back pain.

Tags: back pain, NHS, NICE

A recent study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology by Brinkhaus et.al. (Nov 2008) gives evidence to suggest that acupuncture is an effective therapy for allergic rhinitis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture combined with routine care in patients with allergic rhinitis compared with treatment with routine care alone.

The Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) was filled in by patients at the start of the trial and again after 3 and 6 months. 487 patients were assigned to the acupuncture group, and 494 patients were in the control group (routine care without acupuncture).

The researchers found that the quality of life for patients as measured by the questionnaire was significantly higher in the acupuncture group compared to the control group after 3 months. The researchers also found that the improvement from acupuncture was greatest in the initial 3 month period.

The results of this trial are positive for acupuncture and  suggest that treating patients with allergic rhinitis in routine care with additional acupuncture leads to clinically relevant and persistent benefits.

Tags: allergic rhinitis

At this time of year, pollen starts to affect thousands of hayfever sufferers across the country. Before heading to the local chemist to pick up a box of anti-histamines, why not try a natural anti-histamine to see if it helps you at all?

Not many people have heard of the exotically named Quercetin, a phytochemical that is part of the coloring found in the skins of apples and red onions. It is a powerful anti-oxidant and is also a natural anti-histamine as well as being anti-inflammatory.

It has been isolated and is sold as a dietary supplement, but is also found in high quantities in apples and red onions. Quercetin’s antihistamine action may help to relieve allergic symptoms and asthma symptoms, and the anti-inflammatory properties may help to reduce pain and discomfort.

We would also recommend a diet high in other anti-oxidants and vitamin C. From the point of view of Chinese medicine, the herb Astragalus can also be a useful supplement, because of its strong immunity building properties.

Tags: astragalus, hayfever, quercetin

This Saturday it’s the London Marathon, and many of those runners in training will be having problems with their knees. Running is great cardio-vascular exercise, but it really does put a lot of strain on the joints, especially when running on hard surfaces like the roads of London!

It is vitally important to have a good pair of shoes for training, that are well cushioned and custom-built to support individual running gaits. However, even the right shoes cannot always prevent the ill effects of lots of running on the knee joints.

In our experience, we have always found acupuncture to be effective in the treatment of knee problems. It can sometimes be a little scary having acupuncture done to the knee, because the needles used are longer than normal body needles. This is because the acupuncture points that need to be stimulated are deep inside the knee joint. However, even though the needles have to go in quite deep, there is usually only a slight sensation which is not generally painful. Relief from symptoms usually occurs fairly soon after the treatment, and sometimes immediately after.

The reason acupuncture can work so well for knee problems is that it can ‘reach parts other therapies cannot’! No amount of manipulation or massage can have the same effectiveness compared to an acupuncture needle  placed directly into the knee joint.

The treatment is good for acute injuries, such as sprains, and also more chronic injuries, such as bad knees developed over many years due to lots of running or kneeling (e.g. electricians).

Tags: knee pain, running

In March 2009, the results of a study on acupuncture for pain relief during delivery was published in the journal Birth. The study was carried out by researchers at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial with 607 healthy women in labour. The objective of the trial was to compare the results of acupuncture with TENS (electrical stimulation) or more traditional pharmacological interventions.

The researchers found that the group of women who received acupuncture required significantly less pharmacological or invasive treatment during labour compared to the non-acupuncture groups.

The acupuncture was found not to affect the duration of labour, but the researchers did find that mean Apgar scores at 5 minutes were significantly higher among infants in the acupuncture group compared to infants in the other groups.

The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly assess the health of newborn children immediately after birth. The results of this study therefore seem to suggest that the use of acupuncture during pregnancy and particularly during labour can lead to healthier newborn babies!

Tags: Apgar, labour, newborn babies, pain, TENS