Posts Tagged ‘backache’

Acupuncture and Pilates, a Comprehensive Approach to Lower Back Pain

Monday, March 15th, 2010
pilates helps back pain

pilates helps back pain

Lower back pain does not have to drain your spirit or keep you from an active lifestyle.  The cause could stem from a number of culprits, both external and internal.  The good news: Acupuncture and Pilates can support you and the activities that you enjoy.

Acupuncture works to remove and deactivate the “trigger points” or areas of localized constriction and inflammation.  The use of acupuncture with Chinese herbal medicine expedites healing in a two-pronged manner.  First, by working to relieve inflammation, local congestion and stagnation, pain is reduced.  After the local circulation is restored, the task is to nourish the tendons, discs, and musculature so that they return to a more fluid and supple state.

After healing the initial trauma with acupuncture and Chinese medicine, it’s time to retrain the body by incorporating a steady Pilates practice.  This can decompress the spine, build stamina and strength and get you into alignment.

Pilates is an exercise method used to strengthen and stretch your whole body simultaneously.  Through a series of specific exercises performed on equipment or on a mat, you’ll get to strengthen your core (deep abdominals) and many other muscle groups.  Pilates uses an approach of integrated breathing and movement to access, activate, and isolate muscles.  These exercises initiate a deeper understanding of how we move through life.  By creating this greater awareness, we are able to unwind and modify structural and postural imbalances that contribute to chronic back pain and limited range of motion.

The need for balance and support from the inside out is crucial.  By combining Acupuncture and Pilates you will find a complete, integrated, and holistic approach to relieving your back pain.  In most cases, the pain subsides considerably – if not completely.  What’s more, your overall health gets stronger and more resilient in the process!

Information on Pilates instruction in Philadelphia and Bryn Mawr can be found on Christina Fanizzi’s informative website Pilates Alchemy.

The Results are In: Treating Back Pain with Acupuncture as Good or Better than Conventional Treatment

Monday, February 1st, 2010
acupuncture effective for backache

acupuncture effective for backache

A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that acupuncture relieves back pain better than conventional treatments.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, divided 638 participants with back pain into four groups.  Two groups received acupuncture, one group received a placebo version of acupuncture (in which the skin was stimulated but not pierced), while the participants of the final group received no acupuncture, but continued whatever  conventional treatment program they were on, be it pharmaceutical or physical therapy.

After seven weeks, all three groups who received acupuncture (or something like it) experienced greater and more meaningful improvement in their back pain than the usual-care group.  Even placebo acupuncture techniques yielded positive results.

The placebo acupuncture being as good as needle acupuncture raised questions about how acupuncture works, and what it is about the technique that causes a therapeutic result.  “What we can say is, it is not essential to achieve a benefit to insert the needle through the skin,” says Dan Cherkin PhD, key researcher.  “One possibility is there is a physiological chain of events that occurs when you insert a needle or just stimulate the skin superficially. They may or may not be the same.”  Another possibility: “believing you are getting a treatment that will help your back pain” actually does help it.

“Overall, 60% of the acupuncture-treated patients, but just 39% of the usual-care group patients had meaningful improvements in dysfunction,” a WebMD article states.  Meaningful improvements refers to relief which allows patients to return to activities of daily living previously hindered by back pain.

Cherkin also remarks that Americans spend some $37 billion a year for medical care for back pain, and that acupuncture is a cost-effective option for those seeking treatment for the condition.

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine are increasingly recognized by the Western medical community as safe and effective pain management solutions.  Many MDs recommend acupuncture and Oriental Medicine as an adjunct therapy to patients suffering from back pain.

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