Conditions treated
In clinical practice, Chinese medical acupuncture is found to be effective for a wide range of primary care conditions, including respiratory, digestive, circulatory, psycho-emotional, musculo-skeletal, gynaecological, urinary disorders as well as headaches/migraine and chronic pain.
The latter are the only issues that NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends acupuncture for based on sufficient randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence indicating efficacy. The issue of evidence is extremely problematic as frequently ‘no evidence for’ means there hasn’t been sufficient research done as well as many technical issues with the way the research is done. Effectively the jury is often still out rather than necessarily has given a no-evidence verdict.
COMING SOON: If you want to find out more detail about this, the Resources page will have a section giving some in-depth insight into the complexities of the research picture enabling you to make your own informed assessment.
Acupuncture can also be a very useful complementary treatment in conjunction with biomedicine when managing chronic-severe conditions, including serious respiratory and cardiological conditions as well as coping with/recovering from cancer treatment and post-stroke recovery.
Ethical Practice
A clear indication will be given as to whether this treatment is likely to be able to help you. Absolute guarantees are rarely possible (not least because lifestyle and other factors play a part), but a reliable guide can be given.
If this treatment is not suitable, you will be advised what other route to take. If there are issues that should be checked with your GP, or you should be receiving conventional treatment as well as acupuncture, you will be advised accordingly.
