Acupuncture and/or reflexology - has anyone tried this for health reasons and did they help?

[RJB73]

I have a myriad of chronic and very draining health issues. I suffer from daily IBS and gut issues, endometriosis, stress and anxiety and it's a vicious cycle as the last two exacerbate the physical issues and so the cycle continues day after day.

I have tried all of the conventional NHS treatments offered to me, nothing is helping. Since being in perimenopause these conditions are worse than they ever were. I can not take HRT so I have decided to make a list of things which may help and will draw up a plan to help myself.

I am thinking of trying some acupuncture and perhaps some reflexology as well. I have never tried acupuncture but I did have some reflexology sessions 20 years ago when I was struggling with 6 years of infertility, I fell pregnant within a few weeks of the sessions, I have no idea if the reflexology helped or not but at the time I was pretty convinced.

There isn't a lot of money in the kitty to throw at this so I am quite hesitant to try anything too expensive in case it doesn't help but I am getting quite desperate now as my issues are controlling my day to day living so I am willing to go down less conventional avenues.

I’ve tried acupuncture twice in my life (a series of sessions both times, referred by my GP/midwife), once for frozen shoulder, once to try to encourage my overdue baby to make an appearance. It offered no relief from frozen shoulder pain and my baby finally arrived via CS at almost 43 weeks.

Yes I tried many alternative treatments due to the NHS failings. I did eventually see a rare gem that you get in the NHS and discovered that the reason nothing worked previously is because there just isnt anything that can.

Snake oil salesmen in the NHS and alternative health industry will victim blame rather than admit their limitations.

Three years ago, my son (now 26) was diagnosed with what medical community described as Post Viral Fatigue or Chronic Fatigue (they couldn't decide) from either Covid or Glandular Fever or something similar. Over a couple of years. various doctors both NHS and private did loads of blood tests and ultrasounds on his liver, pancreas etc so I have no criticism of their investigations. However he went from running and going to the gym several times a week to progressively not being able to walk 100 metres down the road earlier this year cos he was so tired and weak - so something was clearly going on. Medical advice was 'learn to live with it'.

A few months ago, I finally persuaded him to try a herbalist and acupuncturist who had previously been a GP (this was important as it showed (to me) he's not a charlatan) and four months on, he's back running again twice a week. The change wasn't overnight and he does relapse but he's so much better than he was before. It is expensive at £58 per session of acupuncture (currently every two weeks but moving to monthly) and £42 per batch of herbs (every two weeks) but its worth every penny.

I have a great deal of respect for Western medicine and think they do wonderful things but sometimes what affects our body can't be fixed with a pill from Astra Zeneca or Glaxo or any of the other big pharmas.

I was offered accupuncture after cancer treatment due to neuropathy. I was sceptical but it was free and saw it as time for myself. It actually helped considerably. I can't say the neuropathy has gone but it's lessened a great deal.

I had a back injury which left me almost unable to stand while I waited for 3 months to have surgery. I had a few sessions of acupuncture, and after each of them I could walk around for a bit and was free of pain for about 10 minutes. It was like a miracle for me, and worth it for those 10 minutes a week without pain. But it did not cure my back injury, and it never could do that.

Nothing is going to be a generic cure for IBS and endo and anxiety and stress. I think if you are going to try it, then have a very specific target for it and an outcome that you can measure. Say you want to target the pain from endo at the time of the month when it's at its worst, and have the goal to be that you will be able to do x, or have your pain lowered to x on a scale. And if it doesn't work significantly and immediately accept that it doesn't work for that, stop and move on. It will be very easy to get caught up in a placebo mindset, thinking it is working and chasing a tiny difference, when in fact all you're doing is spending lots of money for no real benefit.

I'm sorry for what you're going through. Chronic pain is really shit, it wears you down and makes you desperate for something to help. Be aware that a lot of snake oil salesmen prey on that mentality to keep you almost hooked on trying.

I've found acupuncture to be life saving for me. I've used it many times over the years. initially I had three acupuncture sessions to stop me smoking - I smoked over 20 a day and never had another craving after the first session, and that was 26 years ago.

I've had acupuncture for various skin and digestive problems and have found it very helpful. But the most significant help I've had was with my back pain. I've had back problems since my early 20s, and have usually found that the osteopath or chiropractor could put me back together again, but I slipped a disc completely 2.5 years ago and was completely bed bound for over three weeks. I started to be able to love around with lots of pain relief and using my tens machine. I had nerve block injections which didn't work and then started acupuncture. It made SUCH a difference to my pain levels and I was able to get some of my life back again until I had surgery in July.

I think you have to be very careful in choosing a good acupuncturist but the right one can work real wonders.

Thank you everyone. I have booked in with a therapist, she offers both acupuncture and reflexology so I will try both.