Why you need to know about Acupuncture Awareness Week
Chances are that if you have long-term pain, a sports injury or occasional soreness, you simply take painkillers and hope it will go away. As a nation, we abide by the ‘grin and bear it’ attitude – but the British Acupuncture Council wants to change that. Acupuncture Awareness Week (7-13 March), backed by Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington, aims to draw the nation’s attention to the benefits of acupuncture to heal the body.
A recent report from the British Acupuncture Council revealed a staggering lack of knowledge around the therapy, with three in 10 Brits admitting they were unclear of how traditional acupuncture, a painless process which involves fine, sterile needles being placed in the body to trigger a healing response, can help them. Even more surprisingly, over a fifth say they are too scared to even consider trying acupuncture because of the needles.
The British Acupuncture Council report also revealed that, when treating a sporting injury, almost three in five people (56 per cent) admit they take oral painkillers, and nearly a third turn to ice/heat packs, compared to just 11 per cent who opt for traditional acupuncture.
Adlington is grateful to have discovered the therapy for treating her own sporting injuries. ‘There were many things that I tried to help my shoulder, and one of those was traditional acupuncture,’ she says. ‘I found it really helped to manage the pain and was better than taking painkillers every day as an alternative option that was actually massively beneficial.’
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Hear more about Adlington’s experience in the video below, and to find out more this alternative pain-relief treatment, visit acupuncture.org.uk.
Has acupuncture helped you? Tweet us @healthymag – we love to hear from you!
