We talk about the “common” cold, but actually pain is the most common reason Australians seek medical help and doubtless you, dear reader, have been up-close-and-personal with it in one form or another.
The painful facts, according to our national peak body Pain Australia are :
- One in five Australians lives with chronic pain including adolescents and children. This prevalence rises to one in three people over the age of 65.
- One in five GP consultations involves a patient with chronic pain and almost five percent report severe, disabling chronic pain.
- The prevalence of chronic pain is projected to increase as Australia’s population ages.
There is a huge economic cost to all this pain and a massive impact on our quality of life.
If pain persists it can result in anxiety and depression and, as we are witnessing, addiction to opioids for pain relief has reached epidemic levels with a staggering 1.9 million Australian adults beginning to take prescription opioids every year*.
(*Research by the Centre for Medicine Use and Safety (CMUS) at the Monash University Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Have you considered acupuncture as a potential treatment for pain?
Acupuncture engages the body’s own healing mechanisms to address underlying problems as opposed to temporarily suppressing symptoms the way drugs do.
How does it work?
Research has increased our knowledge about the neuroplasticity and the brain – that is the brain’s astounding ability to change and adapt. Acupuncture, electro-acupuncture and e-stimulation are all techniques which we can use to stimulate the body’s own biochemicals such as endorphins, encephalins and serotonin without the side effects associated with many drugs.
Acupuncture can also help to reduce inflammation in the body. inflammation is what creates the pain (impeding proper flow of our blood and lymph systems and pushing on our various nerve receptors).
And as we learn more about the nervous system and the brain we are developing new strategies to help you get you back to fully participating in life and doing the things you love.
These are some of the areas where acupuncture can help:
- Headache and migraine
- Neck and back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Knee pain
- Pelvic Pain
- Plantar fasciitis
- Post operative pain
- Cancer pain
If you would like to discuss how we may be able to assist you, call us or make an appointment online with Sally or Bree