acupuncture ?

[Sydney0503]

Does anyone have any thoughts on this to reduce pain and /or help with underlying inflammation. I am concerned it may have triggered my flare ….

[Charlie1boy]

I tried acupuncture in my early days with pmr. It made absolutely no difference at all. No after effects either.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Do you mean you tried acupuncture and have now flared? I think it is far more likely you just went to slightly too low a dose.

You aren't heading relentlessly to zero - you are looking for the lowest effective dose

[piglette]

Acupuncture was a total waste of time for helping my PMR. I would not go so far as to blame it for causing a flare though!

[Kendrew]

Hi Sydney0503,

I haven't tried acupuncture for my PMR but I did try it for a long-term lower back problem.

As Charlie1boy and piglette have already said, it made absolutely no difference whatsoever in reducing my pain either, but I do know people for whom acupuncture has allegedly helped enormously.

[PhilFreeToAsk]

I have regularly had acupuncture but did not seem to help PMR symptoms. The session were useful for calming but not symptom management.  Now I am on steroids, I will try again to help with recovery. Always important to see a well qualified acupuncturist.

Before I went on steroids recently , I started practicing my old simple tai chi routine daily that I had not done for a couple of years. Astonishingly, I could move restricted muscles without pain and balance on one leg. All joints were being gently mobilised. Highly recommend this.

I have used acupuncture to help with pain management, blood pressure and heart health. Worked very well. It is also worked well with taking medication.

[Telian in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

I used to love Tai Chi before I moved house but since covid there doesn’t appear to be many classes around.

[PhilFreeToAsk in reply to Telian]

I stopped Tai Chi in favour of a Qigong class about 2 years ago. Qigong was also helpful but too static. I needed the slow gentle movements of Tai Chi at home. Just a 10 minute exercise plus warmup.

Hope you manage to find a tai chi class. I am convinced that exercises like these can only help PMR.

[Telian in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

I haven’t heard of Qigong, excuse my ignorance but will look it up. Where I lived previously there were Tai Chi classes almost on every corner compared to three here and they weren’t near enough to me either. Think I’ll do some online classes to refresh me. The correct exercises can help with our muscle problems. Good luck and thanks.

[marionofnorwich in reply to Telian]

I like QiGong, It is simple and rhythmical. I just follow Jeffrey Chand on YouTube. It is gentle enough not to aggravate the PMR which most other things seem to

[Greytree in reply to PhilFreeToAsk]

I have found Tai Chi most helpful, and there are plenty of free videos on YouTube to use, versus taking a class. AARP has good, free stretch as well as balance classes that I take. I prefer the live ones on that.

[Elispeth]

I used to have acupuncture twice a month on a regular basis for over 20yrs. It really helped me to continue working without taking too many pain killers. (I had back surgery in 1977). When I developed PMR I had to stop having acupuncture as it started to make me feel really unwell after it. I persevered for about 6wks until I was convinced that it was aggrevating the condition. I was really surprised about it as I used to visit the acupuncturist before I would visit the doctor!

[WaltzG]

Used acupuncture before I started methotrexate (can't take steriods). It helped with the worst of the pain and with various ailments...but compared to the methotrexate did very little. Activity (dancing) helped more...

[Maxgate2]

My family and I used an excellent Chinese acupuncturist who has retired. She treated us for a number of ailments all with some degree of success. She made me promise never to go to anyone who wasn't Chinese and had been practising for many years. Sadly, the acupuncture she gave me for my back wasn't successful but I do have severe scoliosis and am difficult to treat. In summary, give it a try, it won't do you any harm but only go to a Chinese practitioner!

[Flivoless]

My only experience with acupuncture was after a knee injury skiing - I swear the jump suddenly got bigger as I approached at speed. I limped in and walked out. The same treatment each day kept me going for the week.

[Sharitone]

I had acupuncture before PMR was diagnosed. It didn't help at all, though it did help the previous year with soft tissue injuries.