Arthritis
A course of treatment can provide lasting relief to hot, swollen or aching arthritic joints. Hanna takes the patient's particular circumstances and health history as well as life style into account when treating conditions such as arthritis.
Arthritis reacts to changes in the external temperature usually feeling worse in cold, damp weather. Others suffer more if it’s hot and dry. Diet plays a huge role and particularly cutting back on wheat, alcohol and sugar reduces tends to make joints less tender. Emotional issues also need to be addressed as flare ups often coincide or follow stressful events. Like all other painful conditions acupuncture takes all factors into account and develops treatment plans and tailors lifestyle advice to the individual.
In an uncontrolled outcome trial of 12 patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis of the knee 2/3 of patients receiving acupuncture twice weekly over 8 weeks showed a 50% improvement in pain, function and performance. When assessed by a doctor the remainder had a 75% improvement.(Berman BM, 1995. Efficacy of Traditional Chinese Acupuncture in the Treatment of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis)
