Traditional Acupuncturist M. Arnold Lic.Ac BSc(Hons) MBAcC 07583354677 Bournemouth & Poole clinics

Acupuncture in Bournemouth and Poole: News updates

Here you'll find regular updates on what's new at Mark Arnold Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine related articles in the news.

Bournemouth Clinic has moved from Winton to Redhill April 2022

I am pleased to announce that acupuncture appointments are now available at the Broadstone Clinic of Natural Healthcare on Thursdys and Fridays. This is a multidisciplinary team of natural healthcare providers offering services including acupuncture, osteopathy, nutrition services, EFT, massage, naturopathy and many other techniques to improve your health. Appointments for Broadstone can be made through my contact details or from the Broadstone team directly on 01202 692493

NICE recommends acupuncture for migraines and tension headaches

NICE headaches and migraine report Sept 2012.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) are an international team who work with policy makers, the NHS and clinicians to promote evidence based decision making in healthcare. They have reported that acupuncture is recomended to treat patients suffering with chronic tension headaches and migraines. They also warn of the problem arising from over medication use as a potential cause for many headaches where patients are using paracetamol, aspirin and NSAID's.

Having seen how effective acupuncture is in treating headaches myself it is nice to see NICE have caught up.

Arthritis Research UK report on effectiveness of Acupuncture

Arthritis Research UK have have launched their evidence based report into complementary therapies for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and low back pain. Twenty five therapies were considered and graded on effectivness from 1 (little or no evidence) to 5 (good evendence it is effective). Therapies were also graded on safety either green, amber or red.

Evidence for osteoarthritis and acupuncture scored 5 for effectivness and green for safety.

Evidence for fibromyalgia and acupuncture scored 4 for effectivness and green for saftey.

Evidence for low back pain and acupuncture scored 5 for effectiveness and green for saftey.

Evidence for rheumatoid arthritis was lacking in all trials. to see the full report download the PDF from Arthritis Research UK

Acupuncture and back pain

At bournemouth and poole acupuncture the treatments used for back pain may include acupuncture, cupping, moxa and electroacupuncture.

The NHS, through NICE have recomended acupuncture for lower back pain (See link). As stated above in the arthritis news, Acupuncture was considered effective for back pain and given a top rating in a review of evidence based research trials.

From my experience practicing acupuncture in Bournemouth I have seen first hand how effective this treatment is. There are many different causes of back pain from trauma, poor posture or an underlying weakness. Acupuncture aims to identify the underlying cause and treat the presenting symptoms, whether they be pain, stiffness, weakness or general aches.

Acupuncture helps plantar fasciitis

New research concludes that acupuncture can be effective for treating the painful inflammatory foot condition plantar fasciitis. Typically presenting as pain on the underside of the foot and heel, plantar fasciitis is usually worse in the mornings or when you take a first step after inactivity. Pain is caused when a band of tissue in the foot, known as the plantar fascia, becomes damaged and thickened.

In controlled investigations acupuncture treatment demonstrated a significant reduction in foot pain. Electro-acupuncture coupled with conventional treatments of stretching exercises and shoe modifications provided a success rate of 80% in chronic plantar fasciitis and is more effective than conventional treatments alone. (Healthcare Medicine institute) 14 Dec 2012.

New findings on acupuncture and hypertension

Researchers from UCLA have discovered that acupuncture helps lower blood pressure by stimulating brain neurons and downregulates neural activity of the rostral ventrolateral medulla of the brain, thereby reducing sympathetic nervous system overstimulation and reducing blood pressure.

In the UK 32% of men and 29% of women are estimated to have high blood pressure (BHF). High blood pressure is a high risk factor for developing heart disease

Research concluded that acupuncture decreases blood pressure both immediately and in the long-term. 20 Dec 2012