British Acupuncture Council

Welcome to the British Acupuncture Council's web site. This web site provides information about the British Acupuncture Council, which is the main association representing and regulating professional acupuncturists in Great Britain. This web site provides information about the work of the British Acupuncture Council in promoting research and safe and ethical practice, what to expect during an acupuncture treatment, and an online practitioner search engine.

If you are reading this, it is because you are using a web browser unable to use cascading style sheets or javascript, or they are turned off. The web site is designed for these and is viewable with all browser versions from MS Explorer 4, Netscape Navigator 4, Opera7 and upwards. However, the site content is intended to be accessible using text only browsers, text-to-speech and other assistive technology for the disabled. Accesskeys are available for quick navigation - press Alt 0 and enter for a listing. Accesskey S tabs directly to page content.

British Acupuncture Council, 63 Jeddo Road, London, W12 9HQ, UK. Tel: 020 8735 0400

Acupuncture Aids Pain Relief for Knee Arthritis 21.11.2004

Acupuncture, used as a complementary therapy to drugs, is a more effective treatment for knee osteoarthritis than medication alone, says a Spanish study in the latest British Medical Journal.

The research team treated 88 knee osteoarthritis patients with diclofenac - a standard anti-inflammatory painkiller. Half the patients received 12 weekly acupuncture treatments as well, selecting acupuncture points on the basis of traditional treatment methods, while the other half had sham acupuncture that did not penetrate their skin.
At the end of treatment, it was found that those who received real acupuncture had taken less of their pain medication than those who had fake acupuncture. Yet they had less pain, less stiffness, and better physical function.

(BMJ 2004;329:1216 20 November)

<<Back

Acupuncture News