Acupuncture

[BlightyFiveStar]

Hello everyone

I am interested to hear people’s experiences of acupuncture, whether it has helped with RA and if so in what way e.g. mainly with pain control, or with actual reduction / control of the disease itself.

Many thanks

[hawker955]

I was banned from acupuncture because of the biological treatment and susceptibility to infections . I have a an implant which is prone to infection as well. I was disappointed. Have they not herd of aseptic technique? So I can't really help you I'm afraid.

[BlightyFiveStar in reply to hawker955]

That sounds frustrating. Who banned you? It doesn’t seem to make sense if the aim is infection control as all the needles should be sterile so no greater risk than hospital needles (which all of us get stuck into us a lot!) Are you in the UK?

[hawker955 in reply to BlightyFiveStar]

The consultant at the Pain clinic after discussing my case with my consultant neurosurgeon. I had a programmed shunt implanted in my head in 2012 and it had to be replaced after 4 months because of infection so my consultant and I are very wary of the shunt becoming infected again. I do not want to go through that again. My initial surgery had been emergency surgery so I was still on my RA therapy leaving me susceptible to infection. What do you know? Sure enough the shunt became blocked with infection! Nobody's fault just bad luck regarding the timing really. But I still think that they could prepare my skin properly before inserting any needles. But one has to take their advice in the end.

[SALI]

Hi, I tried acupuncture - paid for by my husband - after being diagnosed and on MTX. Unfortunately my RA was not under control at the time and my pain levels were very high. The practitioner I saw wanted to treat the whole disease and wanted me to come off my conventional meds, but I did not agree to that. I did not accept any Chinese herbal remedies as they could conflict with my MTX. I had about five sessions with the practitioner. I found that the acupuncture did not help with the pain but the massage I was given after each treatment was wonderful. It was sore it some places, but it was great to release so much tension in my muscles from all the pain. At that time I could not bear to be touched and would pull away from everyone - even if they wanted to give me a hug! It was that bad!

I am now on Humira and life is good. I have come off MTX. I signed up for a course of Tai Chi and this really helped me be able to move more easily and use my muscles again.

The same adage will come up every time - everyone is different. I tried it because I was so desperate for pain relief Some hospitals do offer acupuncture as a treatment.

This is my own personal experience.

I wish you well and hope you get other responses to help you.

[Jan101]

Hi sweetie I had acupuncture a few times and I got no relief from it what so ever. However everyone is different and I believe it can help some and not others. Good luck if you try it and fingers crossed 🤞 that it works for you. Love and hugs 🤗🤗🌹🌹xx

[cpetry]

Hi! I do physiotherapy once a week and as part of the therapy, the practitioner uses acupuncture sometimes. It helps me with the pain, but I can only tolerate the needles if I'm not at my worst moments because the session does not go painlessly for me... But I do feel some relief on the following day.

[pm52]

Hi, I have Psa rather than RA and Ankylosing spondylitis. I have had acupuncture many times and found it very helpful, especially for pain in my neck and upper spine. It had no affect on my hands but helped immensely with my spine. I had this treatment in the physio dept of my hospital so not with a private practitioner. I am on both mtx and a biologic and that did not seem to interfere with the treatment, I was referred by my rheumatologist. I would definately give it a try if your rheumatologist is happy, you may even find you can be treated at your hospital. Hope this helps you.

[Joy_1]

Hi

Acupuncture worked for me for pain control in my feet.

It does not work for everyone, but I think it is fab! Also had a real 'chillaxing' effect for me.

You need about 6 sessions before you feel the full benefit.

Joy

[dtech]

There was a recent report by the RCS I think, believe it was in the lancet but I read it in the newspaper. After extensive research they have found that acupuncture has no effect whatsoever on pain control or anything else. It’s joined homeopathy on the list of useless alternative ‘medical’ treatments.

And yes! I am bracing myself for the firestorm against me from everyone that swears by it🙄😂

[BlightyFiveStar in reply to dtech]

Please can you post a link to this study? It doesn’t come up in google. The WHO does rate acupuncture as effective for a number of conditions including RA so I am interested to see the article you refer to. Thanks

[dtech]

So please don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just reporting what I read in accredited medical journals

[Rembrandt2nd]

I had great success with acupuncture, just couldn't afford to keep it up. It wasn't until the 4th week that I felt much improvement. I had 3 treatments a week. Eastern medicine treats the pancreas and stomach, where all autoimmune disorders stem from. My acupuncturist had degrees in both Western and Eastern medicine. He joked that his Western side argues that the Eastern approach shouldn't work... but he couldn't argue with the results. I did it for 8 weeks and wished I could have continue. I improved with inflammation, balance and mobility, overal pain. My insurance didn't cover it, though.

[dtech in reply to Rembrandt2nd]

Well if it gave you some improvement without any other drugs. Great. I assume you are not in UK as you mentioned insurance. And of course the reason they won’t pay for it I’m assuming, is as I said above. No clinical trials have shown it works.