Acupuncture?

I tried due to my back pain. In india.
It had helped a lot though this kind of treatment is not all pervasive or popular.
Now i have no back pains.
Some Germans travel to get a relief to far off Asia where the Acupuncture clinic are popular.
One of my friend who had tried this treatment is immensely satisfied than the free German treatment.

I haven't needed acupuncture, but have relatives and also work comp cases who have had this with a great deal of benefit. You might ask your personal physician for a referral or otherwise ask around to find a really good one though. There are some quacks out there as there are in most professions. Acupuncture doesn't always work, but it often does and at least it is worth a try.

Back in 'o2, meaning 1902, but not really, I worked in, ran a lab in, a rheumatology clinic. One of the residents, a wild man in a good way, got to have some fame later for his use of acupuncture. By the time I knew that, I wasn't paying attention, which is to say I've no idea if there were palliative results.

My first and obvious view is to go see a rheumatologist. They can tell the difference between ordinary stuff and symptoms to consider.

mrs h has had a number of acupuncture sessions with her physiotherapist for hip pain .
he told her up-front that short-term relief was all she could hope for .
she has had a number of sessions over the years , and YES , it has provided short-term relief - sometimes for a few days , sometimes for a few hours .
so if you have insurance for it or have the money , it might be worth a try .
hbg

b, I know acupuncture works, because I used to know two acupuncture docs in Chicago many lifetimes ago. I referred an associate who suffered from back pain for many years, and he tried all the conventional medical treatments that never helped him until he saw one of my friends. It was the same doctor that helped a Chicago Cubs pitcher with his pain problem. I say, tell mr b to go for it.

I had answered with my experience and a German friend#s experience.
But it may not be aplicable for everyone here.

Medical acupuncture is acupuncture that has been successfully incorporated into medical or allied health practices in Western countries. It is derived from Asian and European sources, and is practiced in both pure and hybrid forms. Therapeutic insertion of solid needles in various combinations and patterns is the foundation of medical acupuncture. The choice of needle patterns can be based on traditional principles such as encouraging the flow of qi (pronounced chee), a subtle vivifying energy, through classically described acupuncture channels, modern concepts such as recruiting neuroanatomical activities in segmental distributions, or a combination of these two principles. The adaptability of classical and hybrid acupuncture approaches in Western medical environments is the key to their clinical success and popular appeal.
http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/acu_info/articles/helmsarticle.html

Yes and yes.

It's actually recognized in practice standards here as being helpful for chronic pain and a few other things.

Frankly, if it's just placebo effect, or an endorphin thing, I don't care.

Better a few pinpricks and an active imagination than goddam pills.

It helped me most with sinus infection, as it happens.

It's interesting because my GP and I looked at my records a while back.

Pre-acupuncture, I had a serious sinus infection almost once every 6 weeks, at least and often needed bloody antibiotics...this showed over about4 years.

Post-acupuncture....mebbe about 12 years (?)....one lot of antibiotics for sinus.

Kindly allow me to make this thread a controversial one.
I had politely stick to the topic of this thread.
Now with your kind permission I deviate but stick to the medical facilities .

Here is the latest news about the pathetic plight of a person.

Charles Todd Lee spent a lifetime going backstage at concerts, following politicians on the campaign trail and capturing iconic shots of everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to Mick Jagger to Mickey Mantle. Today, he enjoys such freedom only in his dreams.

The 67-year-old photographer has been confined to a nursing home for five years, the victim of a stroke that paralyzed his left side. And he's angry.

"Most of the people come here to die, so you want to die," he said. "It is a prison. I can't escape it."

Lee is among the Medicaid recipients across Florida challenging the nightmare of the old and disabled: to be forced from comfort and familiarity into a nursing home.

They say the state is illegally forcing them to live in nursing homes when they should be able to live where they choose. Advocates charge that nursing homes, afraid of losing money, have successfully pressured politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult. They have filed a federal lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of nearly 8,500 institutionalized Floridians.

Whether the litigation gets Lee and others moved out of nursing homes remains to be seen. But at the very least, it has illuminated the frustration experienced by older people or those with disabilities who say they're shuttled into nursing homes when they are healthy enough to live at home, with relatives, or in other less institutional settings.

"There are very, very, very few people who cannot be cared for outside in the community," said Stephen Gold, a Philadelphia disability lawyer who, along with AARP attorneys and others, is representing the group. "Why should the state give a damn whether you put the money in the left pocket of the nursing home or the right pocket of the community?"

Americans who qualify for Medicaid and get sick or disabled enough to require substantial care typically have little problem gaining admission to a nursing home. But obtaining Medicaid-supported services at home, such as visits from an aide, is substantially harder and often involves a long waiting list, even though it may cost the government less.

Advocates for the elderly and disabled had hoped a 1999 Supreme Court case would change that. The Olmstead decision, as it is known, involved two Georgia women, both Medicaid beneficiaries with mental retardation who wanted community-based services, but were refused and were treated in institutions.

The high court ruled unjustified isolation of the disabled in institutions amounted to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. It said states must provide community services if patients want them, if they can be accommodated and if it's appropriate. Medicaid is the state-federal partnership that provides health coverage and nursing home care to the poor.

"There's a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care," said Toby Edelman, an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

States have been putting more money into community services, but not nearly enough to meet the demand of people who would rather stay at home than go to a facility. Nationally, state Medicaid payments for long-term community care have skyrocketed since the Olmstead decision, from $17.4 billion in 1999 to $42.8 billion last year, though spending on nursing homes and other institutions is still substantially higher.

A total of $59.5 billion was spent last year on institutional care through Medicaid.

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs and Gov. Charlie Crist's office"the three defendants"all declined to comment on the litigation. So did the attorney general's office, which is representing the defendants.

In court filings, the defendants have claimed the plaintiffs lack standing because they haven't proven that treatment professionals deemed community-based care appropriate for each patient.

"Plaintiffs are not alleging that Florida's Medicaid program has failed to cover their medically necessary services," the defendants wrote. "Instead, plaintiffs want this court to second-guess the manner by which Florida's elected officials and policymakers have chosen to make those services available in light of the state's available resources."

The American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging represents about 5,700 not-for-profit organizations from nursing homes to adult day care to in-home aides. A spokeswoman, Lauren Shaham, said there is "an institutional bias" in the Medicaid program that limits home and community care, but also noted nursing homes are needed for some of society's frailest or most disabled.

The American Health Care Association, which represents about 11,000 nursing homes and long-term care facilities, a majority of them for-profit, also said such institutions were often most appropriate for round-the-clock care. Spokeswoman Susan Feeney noted, "You don't want to be there but sometimes for health reasons beyond your control, you have to be."

John Boyd, 50, has been in a nursing home for the last nine years. He hates them. He became a quadriplegic 36 years ago when he fell off a wall and broke his neck.

"I can't choose what meal I want, I can't have a visitor after 8 o'clock"it's just like a prison without bars," he said. "People are making decisions for and about me that don't even know me or even care about me. All they care about is the money they're getting for me."
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2008-09-21_D93AVQF00&show_article=1&cat=breaking

borat wrote :



had a really bad sinus infection - several times - some years ago . was referred to the ENT unit at our university teaching hospital .
recommendation : rinse your nose several times daily with a saltwater solution . i did and whenever i suspect an onset , i mix a batch of saltwater and start "washing" my nose . really no different than brushing my teeth - takes less than three minutes of my time .
good bye antibiotics for sinus-infection !
hbg

I dunno, it's been around a couple of thousand years. Let's not get too radical, eh.

It works to varying degrees for most folks. Pain relief is usually short-term, varying from hours to days - and very dependent on the practitioner you find.

I can expose my ignorance with so many cuts and pastes.
But as i am sure of ignorance than anyone else
Let me draw your kind attention to this link.
http://www.pittsburghacupuncture.com/

I've used it several times for neck pain - a series of sessions - usually 4 - 6, gives me relief for somewhere between 12 and 18 months. It's certainly worth it to me.

I'm thinking of giving it a try for a crook knee - I'm trying to avoid any surgical intervention.

;rs Walter had got accupuncture quite a few times (it's paid by our health insurences).
It works quite well for her - with her back. And some pains, she's got from her fibromyalgia.

Thanks, all, for sharing your experiences!

I think I'll do some looking around for an acupuncturist and try to convince Mr. B to give it a try.

You could just keep sticking needles in him until he gives in.

Boomer, I'd try chiropractics before accupuncture for joint stuff.

boomer :

has mr. b ever seen a qualified physiotherapist ?
a really good physiotherapist should be able to suggest helpful exercises and also warn against certain stressful movements !
many physiotherapists are also qualified in acupuncture and will know how to combine exercise and acupuncture - if applicable - to give pain relief .
i've seen a physiotherapist on occasion and have usually found out that "proper exercises" are a must (and certain "exercises" such as slouching , carrying heavy loads improperly ... ... can cause all kinds of pain) .
good luck to mr b !
hbg

Interesting that no one else recommends seeing an m.d. that specializes in joint symptoms.

There was an interesting segment on Charles Gibson today on acupuncture and cancer. The success rate is something like 75%, and there's no side-effects like chemo or radiation.