Acupuncture
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julianhj

Original Poster:

8,868 posts

291 months

Sunday 20th March 2005
quotequote all
Anyone tried it? Does it work? I have a couple of health issues which I need to sort out. The first is a hearing problem in my left ear - I have trouble with high frequencies, ans I'm borderline on the police medical, so they want to re-test me in the next couple of months. It's a problem I've probably had since birth, and was diagnosed when I was about 9. It's not wax or anything, so syringing isn't the answer.

The second issue is hayfever. I get it mildly every year, and am fed up with spending loads on pills.

It's been suggested to me that acupuncture might help in both cases.

Graham.J

5,420 posts

288 months

Sunday 20th March 2005
quotequote all
My aunt had it to sort out dermatitis IIRC and it worked wonders.

I'm looking at having some sessions to sort out my health problems.

spslward

160 posts

277 months

Sunday 20th March 2005
quotequote all
Acupuncture & Hayfever

The effects of acupuncture on hayfever symptoms were investigated in a randomised, controlled, single blind study at three general practices in rural (Oxfordshire), semi-rural (Lincolnshire) and urban (Peterborough). 102 patients aged 16 or over, all with moderate to severe hay fever symptoms that had required continuous therapy for at least one month of the year for three years or more, participated in the study.

The patients were divided into two groups; the first group received standardised, Western acupuncture and the other group were used as controls and given ‘sham’ acupuncture. All of the patients were asked to keep a diary recording the amount of medication they required, a daily symptom score and their assessment of the effect of the acupuncture treatment on their hay fever symptoms.

Four weeks after the commencement of the study, 39 percent of the treatment group and 45.2 percent of the ‘sham’ acupuncture group reported remission of symptoms. 16 of the 43 patients in the treatment group, and 14 of the 43 patients in the control group felt that their treatment had had an ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ effect on their hay fever.

L. Williamson, P Yudkin, R Livingstone, K Prasad, A Fuller, M Lawrence. Hay fever treatments in general practice: A randomised controlled trial comparing standardised western acupuncture with sham acupuncture. Acupuncture in Medicine. May 1996; 14:1, 6-10.


Seems you are probably better off just sticking needles into yourself randomly!!

As for the deafness...I'll eat your ear wax if acupuncture helps.

I have an acupuncturist working in my clinic - it does work for certain things (usually pain related) but it is not, unfortunately, a cure for all ills.

Try it and see...

julianhj

Original Poster:

8,868 posts

291 months

Sunday 20th March 2005
quotequote all
spslward said:
helpful stuff


Thanks, I'm skeptical, but willing to try anything to help me pass this medical. I shall continue to look into it.