Why do we get pain?
Pain is something we’ve all experienced and is an important mechanism designed to protect ourselves. Acute pain often raises the alarm that we have, or are about to, physically damage ourselves. It allows us to pull our hand away quickly when we touch a hot pan. In the case of a broken leg, the pain may be telling us we’re haven’t fully healed. Yet when pain becomes persistent (chronic pain) it can seriously impact other areas of our life. It may affect our sleep and mood, our ability to work, relax and enjoy life, and it may also have a negative effect on those around us.
The pain may appear for no apparent reason and sometimes linger a long time after the body has healed. Help for chronic pain can come in many forms, including medications, surgery, and other alternative therapies like acupuncture.
What is chronic pain?
The body is a perfused with a network of nerves. Pain messages are processed within this network and transported to the brain. In some cases, the pain messages get confused and the brain cannot understand the signals correctly, leading us to experience chronic pain.
Pain is considered chronic when it lasts for more than 3 months. It is classed as either primary or secondary pain. Primary pain is where there is no clear underlying condition or the pain seems like it is out of proportion to any illness or injury. Secondary pain is caused by an underlying condition (like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, ulcerative colitis, or endometriosis).
Examples of chronic primary pain include:
- Headache and migraine
- Musculoskeletal pain (muscle, joint, or bone pain)
- Orofacial pain (mouth and face)
- Visceral pain (our internal organs)
- Fibromyalgia (chronic widespread pain)
- Complex regional pain syndrome
The mechanisms underlying chronic primary pain are not full understood. Whilst all forms of pain can cause distress and disability, they are particularly noticeable with chronic primary pain. How a person experiences pain is often influenced by other factors, including:
- Emotional (anxiety, stress, previous trauma)
- Expectations and beliefs
- Mental health (including depression and PTSD)
- Social (isolation, lack of access to services)
How does acupuncture view pain?
Acupuncture sees pain as a blockage in the Qi, or vital energy, of the body. Where there is free flow of Qi there is no pain, and if there is pain there is no free flow (from the classical Chinese Medicine text the Huang Di Nei Jing). As acupuncturists we look to facilitate the free flow of Qi, helping reduce pain and allowing the body to start healing itself.
The beauty of acupuncture is we work with a holistic view of each individual. Whilst your doctor or medical team may not always be able to put their finger on a cause for your pain, Chinese Medicine provides a framework to diagnose and treat your pain completely independent of a Western Medical diagnosis.
To fully appreciate the whole picture, a trained acupuncturist will view all your signs and symptoms. They will also consider other factors including your past medical history, lifestyle, diet, exercise, sleep, and emotions. We build a picture that allows us to understand any imbalances and how they may have come to be (the underlying cause).
Roots and branches
It can be helpful to view this in terms of a tree with roots and branches. The underlying cause, which is often hidden, is present in the roots of the tree. This cause may then manifest in the branches as one or many symptoms. The key is to first unearth the underlying cause so that both the branches (symptoms) and the roots (cause) can be treated. With this information your acupuncturist will design a tailored treatment just for you. The aim is to resolve the symptoms and also strengthen areas of weakness to protect against future recurrence.
An added benefit is that, as the whole person is treated, it’s not uncommon for other systemic effects to be experienced. So patients often benefit from reduced pain whilst at the same time feeling improvements in other areas like sleep, anxiety, and generally feeling better in oneself.
What’s the research?
Research shows acupuncture may be able to help positively affect many of the common symptoms of chronic primary pain. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provide evidence-based recommendations for health and care in England. NICE advise there is a large evidence base showing acupuncture to be clinically effective in the short-term treatment of chronic primary pain. They recommend acupuncture should be considered as a treatment option. This is based on a review of studies showing acupuncture reduced pain and improved quality of life in the short term (up to 3 months) compared with usual care or sham acupuncture.
For the research visit:
- Evidence Based Acupuncture website on https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org/pain
- NICE guidelines https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193
- Acupuncture for Chronic Primary Pain https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193/chapter/rationale-and-impact#acupuncture-for-chronic-primary-pain-2
- British Acupuncture Council https://acupuncture.org.uk/about-acupuncture/acupuncture-research/
How can finding the right acupuncturist help?
Choosing the right acupuncturist can be key to helping you achieving improvement. Acupuncture is not yet regulated in the UK in the same way that osteopathy or chiropractic is. Therefore it is important to find the right practitioner with the appropriate level of training.
In the UK, the British Acupuncture Council (BAaC) is the largest professional body for traditional acupuncturists. BAaC members belong to an accredited register, regulated and approved by the Professional Standards Authority for Health & Social Care (PSA). The PSA protects the public by overseeing the regulation and registration of healthcare professionals – including statutorily regulated professions, such as the Nursing and Midwifery Council, and Accredited Registers like the BAcC. This offers a quality mark for high standards of training, safe practice and professional conduct. Find a qualified BAaC member using the BAcC Find an Acupuncturist search.
Following closely on from ensuring the right qualifications and safe practice is how you connect with your acupuncturist. This is a very personal thing, and the relationship you have with your acupuncturist is important in your healing journey. Take a good look at their website to get a feel for what they say, and how they say it, and if it resonates with you. Many acupuncturists offer a complimentary phone call, sometimes called a discovery call, so you can talk to them before you book an appointment. So once you find someone who you like the look of give them a call see if they sound like the type of person you can work with.
What else can help?
What else can help with chronic pain? How we’re feeling has an effect on how we experience pain. If we feel angry, depressed or anxious, our pain will seem worse. The opposite is also true. If we are feeling positive and happy, our pain can seem less and we may be able to cope much better. There’s research to show Mindfulness Based Interventions (MBIs), including Mindfulness Based Pain Management, can be effective in reducing our perception of pain. Creating a virtuous circle in feeling good about food, exercise, sleep and our emotions can also play a part in helping our resilience of chronic pain. Often this feels like an insurmountable mountain. Alongside acupuncture this is an area where your acupuncturist may help you by suggesting small changes and atomic habits to support your overall wellbeing and your perception of chronic pain.
My clinical experience with chronic pain
In addition to the research and recommendations expressed above, my personal clinical experience is that acupuncture can be very effective in helping patients with chronic pain, especially in the following areas:
- Achilles tendonitis
- Back pain, including sciatica and lumbago
- Frozen shoulder
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Muscular pain
- Joint issues (knee, shoulder, elbow, wrist, finger, toe)
I regularly recieve referrals from physios or osteopaths who have supported their patients with pain relief and now need help with a deeper level of treatment. I have found acupuncture can be a powerful alternative to strong medications and potentially invasive surgery, and works well in conjunction with Western Medicine.
Are you suffering from chronic pain?
Do you need help for chronic pain? If you do and you’d like to know more about how acupuncture may be able to help manage your pain, feel free to contact me and I’ll be happy to talk.
I’m Dom Walsh and I run Flourish Acupuncture, a friendly and professional local acupuncture clinic based at 140 Nork Way, Banstead, Surrey, UK. Patients visit the clinic from the surrounding areas of Epsom, Dorking, Reigate, Ashtead, Ewell, Kingswood, Tadworth, Carshalton, and Sutton.
Book a free telephone consultation or call on 01737 420221 to find out how acupuncture could help you.
All the best,
Dom Walsh
Licensed Acupuncturist | Flourish Acupuncture
Dom Walsh is a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAaC) and has been trained in Five Element Acupuncture, Classical Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Stems and Branches Acupuncture, Auricular Acupuncture, and Tui Na (Chinese Massage).