Acupuncture

Acupuncture stimulates sensory nerves under your skin and in your muscles. This causes your body to produce natural substances, such as pain-relieving endorphins and serotonin. It is thought that these natural painkillers can ease health condition symptoms such as pain and discomfort.

Acupuncture can help you to manage many conditions including chronic pain and headaches. It is also often used to treat musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis and joint pain, sports injuries, respiratory conditions including asthma, gynaecological conditions such as menstrual cramps, PMS, and infertility, and some mental health conditions such as stress.

Three benefits of acupuncture include:

1. You can combine acupuncture alongside other more conventional treatments to enhance an existing treatment or speed up your recovery.
2. It is a very safe form of treatment, which has a low risk of side effects or complications.
3. It can target numerous health concerns at once, give you more energy and improve your sleep, productivity and mindset.

The risks of acupuncture are low if your treatment is provided by a competent and regulated healthcare professional such as a doctor, nurse or physiotherapist, or a member of a national acupuncture organisation. In these cases, acupuncture is generally very safe.

Your risk of infection is minimal as your healthcare practitioner will use single-use sterile needles.

Rare side effects include pain and minor bleeding or bruising where the needles were inserted, drowsiness, feeling sick, dizzy or faint, or worsening of pre-existing symptoms. They are usually mild and short-term.

Before having acupuncture treatment, you should speak with your practitioner if you have a bleeding disorder or you are taking blood thinners, have a pacemaker, or are pregnant.

Acupuncture is a NICE (National Institute for Health & Care Excellence) recommended assessment and management treatment for chronic pain (in over 16s) and headaches and migraines (in over 12s). A course of acupuncture usually creates longer-lasting pain relief than when a single treatment is used.

Acupuncture can reduce pain by:

• Preventing messages from painful tissue traveling to your brain. This reduces how much you feel pain in the tissues.
• Stimulating your body to produce and release natural pain-killing substances, such as endorphins which help to ease your symptoms of pain and discomfort.
• Stimulating your body to produce an anti-inflammatory chemical to reduce inflammation in the tissues.

Traditional Chinese acupuncture is based on the belief that energy flows through your body, known as Qi. Practitioners who use acupuncture in the traditional way believe that when Qi does not flow freely through your body, it can cause illness. They also believe acupuncture can restore the flow of Qi, and therefore restore health.

The costs of acupuncture will depend on your chosen healthcare practitioner, your condition, and the number of acupuncture treatment sessions you have.

You will receive a formal quotation price for your acupuncture following a consultation with one of our expert acupuncture specialists. This formal quote will be valid for 60 days.

Ramsay is recognised by all major medical insurers. Acupuncture is covered by some medical insurance policies under complementary medicine. Your health plan may have some exclusions such as only using an acupuncturist who is a member of the British Acupuncture Council or is registered with the General Medical Council (GMC). We advise you to obtain written authorisation from your insurance provider before your acupuncture.

We have a number of finance options if you are paying for your acupuncture yourself. These include:

•            Interest-free finance – requires no deposit and you can make monthly instalments at 0% interest.

•            All-inclusive Total Care – is a one-off payment at a pre-agreed price.

•            Pay as you go – a flexible funding option so you can pay for your acupuncture session costs as and when they arise.

The recovery process of an acupuncture session can be different for everyone as acupuncture can affect you in many ways.

You may feel calmer and more relaxed. You may feel tired for a few hours after treatment. You may feel more alert and energised. You may find the symptoms of your condition are temporarily worse.

After treatment, if you feel drowsy, you may not be able to drive or handle machinery that requires concentration. Your practitioner may suggest that you take it easy for a day or two after each session.

Ramsay Health Care is pleased to offer its patients access to the complementary medicine of acupuncture. Acupuncture is a form of complementary therapy where fine needles are inserted into your skin at specific points of your body.

We work with acupuncture health professionals who are members of the British Acupuncture Council. Some of our physiotherapists have undertaken specialised training in acupuncture. They uniquely use acupuncture in conjunction with their other treatments such as exercises, manipulation, and stretching to relieve chronic pain and other health conditions. By using acupuncture alongside other treatments, patients have a wider range of options to manage their condition successfully.

Some of our hospitals offer electro-acupuncture. This is the practice of acupuncture with the addition of small electric currents used to apply more stimulation to your muscles and nerves. Electroacupuncture is used to treat musculoskeletal pain. It is intended to help increase the potential healing effects of standard acupuncture.