Saturday, March 31, 2007

It works for me: acupuncture

One woman’s life had been crippled by osteoarthritis until she found relief in Chinese medicineChristmas 2005 wasn’t much fun for 73-year-old Maureen Vine. She had long been a sufferer from chronic osteoarthritis in her knees, hips and back and she was now afflicted by an arthritic right ankle, which left her in pain and limping. “My youngest grandchild was 4 years old and he couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t play with him on the floor on Christmas Day,” Vine recalls. “It was just too painful. The terrible pain in my ankle spread to the sole of my foot, and I could hardly walk.”
Vine had suffered from osteoarthritis — in which wear and tear causes joint stiffness and pain — in the back, hips, and knees for 30 years, and had tried occasional physiotherapy, which had brought a little relief. But a stomach condition meant that she had to avoid antiinflammatory medication or strong painkillers. In November 2005 her right ankle began showing signs that it, too, had become arthritic and by the new year, Vine was at her GP in Hackney, East London.
“She prescribed some painkillers that I can tolerate called Co-dydramol,” Vine says. “I was taking eight a day, but they barely took the edge off the pain. I usually enjoy a daily walk around the park, but now I was housebound. Then I remembered that my son had recently tried acupuncture for his arthritic shoulder and said that it had worked wonders. Although I knew nothing about it and was a bit sceptical, I was willing to try anything. So I asked my doctor for a referral.”

Source - Times

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