Stressful to manage, damaging to health from the side effects of medications, costly in relation to surgical medical interventions and loss of work, and debilitating for both the supportive family and the afflicted individual, chronic low back pain may be alleviated with a surprisingly minimal side effect, simple, low-cost, and relaxing form of natural treatment known as acupuncture.
Relaxing to both the body and brain
In the area of pain management acupuncture is quickly gaining momentum and modern science is monitoring tracking its effectiveness and mode of operation closely. In fact, the National Institutes for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends acupuncture as a main form of treatment for chronic low back pain. This is validated by several patients with positive expectations who have tried it and have experienced very impressive results compared to those who have received conventional treatment. A specific study observed the response of patients after undergoing 10 sessions of acupuncture. Most of them felt significantly relaxed and were willing to undergo more acupuncture treatments in the future. How can this be when needles are perceived to be scarier and more archaic than the use of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) in the relief of chronic low back pain? To explain these weird findings, scientists observe the brain function and brain activity under MRI in post needling acupuncture treatment of chronic low back pain. They discovered that acupuncture deactivates the limbic-paralimbic neocortical network and stimulates the sensori-motor cortical network. This simply means that acupuncture has the ability to “shut down and turn on” neural pathways, altering the state of the brain, with the body responding accordingly.
Acupuncture is superior to Western medical care
Acupuncture proved much better to exercise, physical therapy and medications in a study investigating acupuncture treatment results for chronic low back pain. In the study, the patients were administered acupuncture treatment for six months, with two treatments per week. At the end of the study, a 47% improvement in function and pain was seen in the group treated with acupuncture compared to the 27% improvement of the conventional care group. Chronic low back pain was relieved after acupuncture treatment for two months in another study. This study revealed mean dysfunction scores improvements of 4.4 points for the acupuncture group compared to 2.1 points for the conventional care group. Another study observed a group given a 12-week session of ear acupuncture and exercise and a group who only underwent a 12-week exercise program. The acupuncture and exercise group showed a 10.7% greater mean improvement in the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire after half a year as opposed to only 6.7% of the exercise group. The exercise plus acupuncture group also gained a significant improvement in quality of life, bothersomeness, severity of the low back pain, and fear-avoidance beliefs.
All these studies indicate that acupuncture can definitely help people all over the world suffering from chronic low back pain. Pleasant, effective, and safe, this treatment can be the answer you are looking for to rid you of your back pain forever and make you experience a better and happier quality of life once more.
Acupuncture Health Center
1303 Astor St #101
Bellingham, WA 98225
(360) 715-1824