NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has just issued a draft recommendation (August 2020) advising GPs not to prescribe common painkillers – including paracetamol and ibuprofen – for patients suffering from chronic pain not caused by an injury or other medical condition.
Rather, NICE recommends acupuncture as a key non-pharmacological therapy for chronic pain (1).
๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป? ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ฝ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ?
Chronic pain often persists long after an injury has healed, potentially for months or even years. In chronic injury, nerve signals that were active during the acute injury phase continue to send messages to the brain that the body is still in pain. Although chronic pain is not completely understood, it is potentially due to nerves that have become damaged. New research also suggests that chronic pain may be due to a malfunction in the way that the brain โmapsโ sensory information. Nearly two-thirds of people with chronic pain report problems sleeping. Lack of restorative sleep often makes the pain worse, resulting in a frustrating cycle of pain and sleeplessness. Acupunctureโs record in reducing suffering in patients experiencing chronic pain is one of the main reasons it has become so popular around the world. The mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating pain have been researched extensively for over 60 years. The neural pathways from acupuncture point stimulation through to the spinal cord and to the deactivation of the pain centres in the brain have been mapped in extensive detail.
If you have any questions about acupuncture and how it may help provide relief from chronic pain, please contact us.ย