Acupuncture
Acupuncture is one of many treatment methods used within physiotherapy as an integrated approach to help manage pain and inflammation. It is used as a means to promote and speed up the body’s own healing process.
It involves the use of ultra fine, sterile, single-use disposable needles that are inserted into the skin at specific acupuncture points.
Although it forms part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a practice dating back over 2500 years, AACP physiotherapists who practice acupuncture do not base their treatments on TCM beliefs. Physiotherapists combine the principles of TCM and evidence-based western medical research as a means to reduce pain by stimulating the brain and spinal cord to help the body produce its own natural pain relieving chemicals such as serotonin and endorphins. Therefore, acupuncture can allow other physiotherapy treatments such as manual therapy, massage and rehabilitation to achieve more effective results when used together.
Evidence over recent years have helped support the benefits of acupuncture alongside physiotherapy for conditions such as:
- Headaches, in particular tension headaches and migraines
- Low back pain
- Neck pain
- Osteoarthritis, in particular of the knee
- Respiratory disorders such COPD
All physiotherapists at PhysioNet Bristol member clinics that use acupuncture as part of treatment are AACP qualified so you can be assured that they are fully qualified to treat you alongside conventional physiotherapy.
See all clinics that provide Acupuncture