This blog was first published on 9th February 2017 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ Inspired by Wang et al Acupunct Med 2017 [1] Image taken from Cummings M Acupunct Med 2009 [2] I got interested in swapping my hypodermic needles for filiform ones some 25 years ago, and was encouraged by my early success treating myofascial pain in a … Continue reading Precision needling in myofascial pain
Month: September 2018
Acupuncture for infantile colic – misdirection in the media or over-reaction from a sceptic blogger?
This blog was first published on 26th January 2017 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/. At the time I was in Cape Town on holiday, trying to get a rapid response published to the NG59 summary in the BMJ. It was critical of NICE, and I was negotiating over content with a legal expert from BMJ! The response took three … Continue reading Acupuncture for infantile colic – misdirection in the media or over-reaction from a sceptic blogger?
Is acupuncture pseudoscience?
This blog was first published on 30th December 2016 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ - on reviewing the Wikipedia page today, and the talk pages behind it, I see little has changed, but there has been a lot of talk behind the scenes ;-). An eloquent and tenacious colleague has asked me to write about a cause she has taken … Continue reading Is acupuncture pseudoscience?
Too NICE – there appears to be a glaring orthodox bias in NG59
This blog was first published on 30th Novenber 2016 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ When the draft clinical guideline for low back pain & sciatica was published in February 2016, it was with some resignation that I noted the 2009 recommendation in CG88 for acupuncture in low back pain (from 6 weeks to 1 year)[1] had been dropped. It … Continue reading Too NICE – there appears to be a glaring orthodox bias in NG59
Quality sham
This blog was first published on 13th October 2016 on BMJ Blogs, but it was taken down subsequently and reposted here. Comments stimulated by: Saramago et al. BMC Med Res Methodol 2016 This week a new finding in the acupuncture field was published in a rather unlikely journal. BMC Medical Research Methodology is one of the Biomed … Continue reading Quality sham
Trust Me, I’m an acupuncture expert – but I have never actually had it or used it…
This blog was first published on 4th September 2016 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ On Thursday 1st September the first episode of series five of Trust Me I’m A Doctor aired on BBC2. I was keen to see how acupuncture was treated after spending a day engaged in trying to demonstrate a change in pressure pain threshold in the … Continue reading Trust Me, I’m an acupuncture expert – but I have never actually had it or used it…
Breathless…
…a career-defining symptom? This blog was first published on 18th May 2016 on BMJ Blogs. The Filshie files - breathlessness Dr Jacqueline Filshie Jacky Filshie (JF) has devoted a medical career to symptom management in the cancer suffering population. Her early personal experience of acupuncture needling had a significant impression on her, probably because she … Continue reading Breathless…
Musings on heterogeneity in quantitative outcomes of acupuncture trials in LBP
This blog was first published on 4th April 2016 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ Further commentary: Low back pain and sciatica: management of non-specific low back pain and sciatica Draft clinical guideline February 2016 This commentary follows a previous blog post. Late last Friday night I got around to dropping the pain VAS outcome figures from the trials of acupuncture … Continue reading Musings on heterogeneity in quantitative outcomes of acupuncture trials in LBP
Exercise not acupuncture recommended by NICE for low back pain
This blog was first published on 31st March 2016 on BMJ Blogs (link no longer available). Commentary: Low back pain and sciatica: management of non-specific low back pain and sciatica – draft clinical guideline February 2016 (link no longer available). NICE clinical guidelines are very large pieces of work. This draft runs to over 1000 pages with … Continue reading Exercise not acupuncture recommended by NICE for low back pain
Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes
This blog was first published on 15th March 2016 on BMJ Blogs (link no longer available). Comments on: Ee et al Ann Int Med 2016 A large rigorous trial published in a prestigious general medical journal, and the usual mantra rings out – acupuncture is no better than sham. In this case there was not a … Continue reading Acupuncture for menopausal hot flushes
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