Burning nerves with needles in back pain – stop the burning, just use the needles!

This blog was first published on 27th July 2017 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ I subsequently attended the Spanish Pain Society conference (#SEDPalma2018) and there was a whole session devoted to this paper and why it did not apply to the way these specialists used the technique :-/. This piece has also been stimulated by a publication in JAMA, … Continue reading Burning nerves with needles in back pain – stop the burning, just use the needles! →

Why not needles for OA – no steroid, just the needles!

This blog was first published on 30th May 2017 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ This piece has been stimulated by a recent publication in JAMA evaluating the use of regular intra-articular corticosteroid injections for symptom management and cartilage volume in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.[1] Previous research had suggested that the inflammatory process in the knee was associated with … Continue reading Why not needles for OA – no steroid, just the needles! →

TENS and acupuncture appear cost-effective in OAK

This blog was first published on 9th March 2017 on https://blogs.bmj.com/aim/ Figure 3 from Woods B et al PLoS One 2017[1] This figure may seem familiar to some who follow big data in the acupuncture field. It comes from another big project at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York.[1] It is effectively a repeat of their … Continue reading TENS and acupuncture appear cost-effective in OAK →

Precision needling in myofascial pain

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 →

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… →