The National Institutes of Health has stated that a significant number (80%) of Americans will suffer from certain types of lumbar pain sometime in their lives. To put in another way, around 4 of 5 Americans are suffering and/or will suffer from lower back pain. Lower back pain based on the statistics of the NIH is second only to headaches as the most common neurological disorder in America.
Lower back pain can be caused by various kinds of factors. Sciatica is also a form of lower back pain resulting usually from an injury or strain to the soft tissues surrounding the spine causing swelling and irritation to the sciatic nerve. Another condition lower back condition called spinal stenosis arises due to a misaligned or herniated vertebral disc.
As there are various causes of lower back pain, no standard cure exists that can treat all types of the condition. However, for sciatica, acupuncture Bellmore treatment for this painful disorder is gaining popularity because of its effectiveness and natural approach.
Ancient Chinese medicine’s foundation lies on the belief that the body has energy vessels called meridians lying along just beneath the skin. Meridians are where life force energy or chi runs supplying the body with vital energy. When the meridians develop energy blockages, the health of the person deteriorates. Acupuncture is then used to remove the blockages and does it with needles inserted into the affected meridians which again enables chi to run throughout the body unimpeded. Acupuncture has been used throughout the Orient for thousands of years to treat a wide range of health conditions. It has gained popularity in the Untied States after being introduced as a treatment for pain in the 1970s.
A study done by Sjlund and Carlsson involving 50 patients, all suffering from chronic low back pain showed that after two months, the group that were given traditional and electro acupuncture had the most positive effects in the relief of their back pain compared to the other group that were given placebo therapy. This study compelled the researchers to state that the result of this study gave substantial evidence that acupuncture has truly clinically value in relieving some forms of chronic lower back pain.
Although this Sjlund and Carlsson study does not truly prove any scientific proof that acupuncture really treats pain, the results speak for themselves. This study along with dozens of acupuncture treatment studies done throughout the decades support is unmistakable evidence that acupuncture provides excellent relief for painful conditions such as chronic low back pain.
Since acupuncture’s theory of health disorders and its approach to treatment differs considerably with the procedures of the scientific method, the inability to consider intangible factors in the explanation of human health and diseases of Western medical science will always make the scientific method an insufficient way to truly prove the workings of acupuncture.