Acupuncture was once derided as ‘loony’. Today it heals bad backs, conquers addictions and, says new research, even helps during the menopause. So why does it work?
MENOPAUSE- hotflushes
MARY Grundy is not in the least bit surprised about the powers of the ancient Chinese practice of needletherapy and in particular its ability to help women through the menopause. The 49-year-old artist from Cheltenham suffered from what she describes as: “Really dreadful hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings and such terrible anxiety that I hated going out.” Mary says she believes “without a doubt” that acupuncture has cured her unwelcome problems. “I started having acupuncture 18 months ago and after just a couple of hour-long sessions felt so much better.I actually felt very emotional after the first session but in a good way – I had a feeling of relief, as if I was getting rid of unwanted heat from my body. “Now I pay £60 an hour roughly three times a year, which keeps the horrible menopause symptoms under control and is absolutely worth every penny. I feel back in control of my life and can even deal with my very hormonal teenage daughter – someone who could definitely do with some acupuncture. I would happily pay for her to have the treatment, I feel so certain that it works.” The earliest written record of acupuncture is from China and suggests that the practice may date back as far as the stone age. Yet although it is often recommended by conventional doctors, many remain sceptical. Pictures of celebrities sporting acupuncture pins in their ears have in the past included Kate Moss (reportedly to combat cocaine addiction), Roman Abramovich (to lose weight) and Cherie Blair (for stress relief) giving rise to the notion that it is nothing more than the latest fad therapy. But a new study of 53 postmenopausal women who experienced an average of seven or more hot flushes a day over seven consecutive days appears to be compelling evidence that acupuncture does work. In it, 27 women received acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks and the remaining volunteers were given dummy acupuncture with blunted needles. At the end of the trial, those receiving genuine treatment had lower scores for the intensity of the hot flushes and mood swings they experienced – which progressively improved over the treatment period – compared with those given the placebo needles.
BREECH BIRTH - Hormonal problems apart, acupuncture appears to be something of a cure-all for a range of conditions. When Jenny Lewis, a youth worker who lives in Herefordshire, found out that the baby she was carrying lay in the breech position, her first instinct was to make an appointment to see her acupuncturist. The 33-year-old mother of Eli, three, says: “I knew I had to be not only physically but also emotionally strong to get through what could be a very difficult birth. I decided to visit my acupuncturist Philip Weeks to see if he could give me treatment which might encourage my daughter Heidi [now eight months old] to turn into the correct position as I had heard he had done this for other patients.
“I wanted a natural birth at home with no pain relief and after having acupuncture for Eli’s birth – which was a terrific experience – I knew that this was what I wanted for Heidi. “Philip placed the needles in my energy points. After just two hour long sessions the week before she was born, Heidi had turned so that she was head down and Philip explained that the acupuncture had given Heidi the strength to make that final turn. “There was no need for me to have acupuncture during the labour because the sessions I had been through helped me manage the intensity of the birth. I believe it strengthened my constitution and mentally prepared me to commit to birthing my daughter without needing drugs.”
Interestingly, it seems that women appear to be more inclined to investigate the possibilities of acupuncture than men. Philip Weeks says: “Out of the patients I see, about 60 per cent are women. Usually they are interested in their general health, often with hormone-related issues. Men tend to come for more specific problems such as chronic back pain, migraine and erectile dysfunction. But I’ve found that on the whole people are very open to trying acupuncture and why not? After all is has.
SLIPPED DISC
“I have been practising acupuncture for six years and believe it works so well because it has a broad-spectrum effect on balancing hormones, immune function and stimulating the body’s natural healing response.” Gordon Key, 78, a former journalist who lives in Shrewsbury, turned to acupuncture 10 years ago when a slipped disc left him unable to stand. “The NHS was pretty unresponsive – no conventional medication worked, neither did physiotherapy or going to a chiropractor,” he says. “I have practised yoga for some time and am, in general, open-minded about complementary or alternative therapies. I started having regular treatments and after just a few, the pain subsided.
“I still have monthly sessions and acupuncture helped me only recently when I twisted my ankle. It is an intriguing form of therapy which helped me where conventional medicine totally failed. “I don’t know why some people are sceptical about acupuncture – it’s not some new-fangled treatment, it has been going for thousands of years so there must be something in it.”
MENOPAUSE- hotflushes
MARY Grundy is not in the least bit surprised about the powers of the ancient Chinese practice of needletherapy and in particular its ability to help women through the menopause. The 49-year-old artist from Cheltenham suffered from what she describes as: “Really dreadful hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings and such terrible anxiety that I hated going out.” Mary says she believes “without a doubt” that acupuncture has cured her unwelcome problems. “I started having acupuncture 18 months ago and after just a couple of hour-long sessions felt so much better.I actually felt very emotional after the first session but in a good way – I had a feeling of relief, as if I was getting rid of unwanted heat from my body. “Now I pay £60 an hour roughly three times a year, which keeps the horrible menopause symptoms under control and is absolutely worth every penny. I feel back in control of my life and can even deal with my very hormonal teenage daughter – someone who could definitely do with some acupuncture. I would happily pay for her to have the treatment, I feel so certain that it works.” The earliest written record of acupuncture is from China and suggests that the practice may date back as far as the stone age. Yet although it is often recommended by conventional doctors, many remain sceptical. Pictures of celebrities sporting acupuncture pins in their ears have in the past included Kate Moss (reportedly to combat cocaine addiction), Roman Abramovich (to lose weight) and Cherie Blair (for stress relief) giving rise to the notion that it is nothing more than the latest fad therapy. But a new study of 53 postmenopausal women who experienced an average of seven or more hot flushes a day over seven consecutive days appears to be compelling evidence that acupuncture does work. In it, 27 women received acupuncture twice a week for 10 weeks and the remaining volunteers were given dummy acupuncture with blunted needles. At the end of the trial, those receiving genuine treatment had lower scores for the intensity of the hot flushes and mood swings they experienced – which progressively improved over the treatment period – compared with those given the placebo needles.
BREECH BIRTH - Hormonal problems apart, acupuncture appears to be something of a cure-all for a range of conditions. When Jenny Lewis, a youth worker who lives in Herefordshire, found out that the baby she was carrying lay in the breech position, her first instinct was to make an appointment to see her acupuncturist. The 33-year-old mother of Eli, three, says: “I knew I had to be not only physically but also emotionally strong to get through what could be a very difficult birth. I decided to visit my acupuncturist Philip Weeks to see if he could give me treatment which might encourage my daughter Heidi [now eight months old] to turn into the correct position as I had heard he had done this for other patients.
“I wanted a natural birth at home with no pain relief and after having acupuncture for Eli’s birth – which was a terrific experience – I knew that this was what I wanted for Heidi. “Philip placed the needles in my energy points. After just two hour long sessions the week before she was born, Heidi had turned so that she was head down and Philip explained that the acupuncture had given Heidi the strength to make that final turn. “There was no need for me to have acupuncture during the labour because the sessions I had been through helped me manage the intensity of the birth. I believe it strengthened my constitution and mentally prepared me to commit to birthing my daughter without needing drugs.”
Interestingly, it seems that women appear to be more inclined to investigate the possibilities of acupuncture than men. Philip Weeks says: “Out of the patients I see, about 60 per cent are women. Usually they are interested in their general health, often with hormone-related issues. Men tend to come for more specific problems such as chronic back pain, migraine and erectile dysfunction. But I’ve found that on the whole people are very open to trying acupuncture and why not? After all is has.
SLIPPED DISC
“I have been practising acupuncture for six years and believe it works so well because it has a broad-spectrum effect on balancing hormones, immune function and stimulating the body’s natural healing response.” Gordon Key, 78, a former journalist who lives in Shrewsbury, turned to acupuncture 10 years ago when a slipped disc left him unable to stand. “The NHS was pretty unresponsive – no conventional medication worked, neither did physiotherapy or going to a chiropractor,” he says. “I have practised yoga for some time and am, in general, open-minded about complementary or alternative therapies. I started having regular treatments and after just a few, the pain subsided.
“I still have monthly sessions and acupuncture helped me only recently when I twisted my ankle. It is an intriguing form of therapy which helped me where conventional medicine totally failed. “I don’t know why some people are sceptical about acupuncture – it’s not some new-fangled treatment, it has been going for thousands of years so there must be something in it.”
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