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musculoskeletal

Musculoskeletal conditions are those health issues which affect our muscles and bones in the body.  They include back, neck or shoulder pain as well as joint pain, rheumatism and arthritis. In many cases these problems are ongoing and can be very debilitating. 

One in five patients consulting their GP does so for a musculoskeletal condition.  For many practices these conditions are the biggest reason for repeat consultations, causing frustration for patient and professional alike.

There are many organisations who aim to help people who suffer from these problems. 

The national back pain charity, Backcare: www.backcare.org.uk

Arthritis Research Campaign; www.arc.org.uk

Complementary therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy are proven in the management of these problems:

United Kingdom Back Pain Exercise and Manipulation (UK BEAM) Randomised Trial: Effectivenss of Physical Treatments for Back Pain in Primary Care, UK BEAM Trial Team, 2004

Acupuncture for Back Pain, McManus J., Allen R., 2005

Effectiveness of Acupuncture as Adjunctive in Osteoarthritis of the Knee, Berman B., Lao L., et al 2004

Acupuncture for Osteoarthritis of the Knee. A Systematic Review, Ezzo J., Hadhazy V., 2001

Acupuncture in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomised trial, Witt c., Brinkhaus B.,

Acupuncture and Knee Osteoarthritis, Schart HP., Manesmann U., 2006

Acupuncture as a complementary therpay to the pharmacological treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: randomised controlled trial, Vas J., Camila M. 2004.

Pragmatic Randomised Trial Evaluation the Clinical and Economic Effectiveness of Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain, Witt C., Jena S. et al, 2006

Cost-effectiveness of Acupuncture Treatment in Patients with Chronic Neck Pain, Willich S.N. Reinhold T. et al, 2006.

Acupuncture for Patients with Chronic Neck Pain, Witt C., Jena S., et al, 2006.

A Randomised Clinical Trial of TENS and Exercise for Patients with Chronic Neck Pain, Thomas C., Hui-Chan C., et al, 2005.

Long-term Follow-up of a Randomised Clinical Trial Assessing the Efficacy of Medication, Acupuncture and Spinal Manipulation for Chronic Mechanical Spinal Pain Syndromes, Muller R., and Giles L.G.F., 2005