Our Community Rehabilitation Team has helped a pensioner to a new lease of life with acupuncture.

The 63-year-old active lady had a history of L1 vertebroplasty and had suffered from middle – lower thoracic pain for a year following a fall tho no fracture was sustained.

She was seen in MSK who referred to physio and who were considering an injection if no further improvement was made. She was assessed in physio and given postural advice, education and exercises for her thoracic pain and restricted movement. Some manual mobilisations was tried for three sessions and while she did get short term improvement her symptoms did not improve overall.

And then the breakthrough moment - they decided at this point to try a course of acupuncture. The spinal (thoracic) Bladder meridian was used and within four sessions (weekly) the patient's symptoms had almost resolved. Patient was very pleased with the outcome as she thought it would never improve.

Physio Karl Gray, one of the team, said: " I saw this lady again two months later following her having a Total Knee Replacement and she reported then that her back pain had not come back and she felt great. Her knee surgery had gone exceptionally well too and she felt she now had a new lease of life and was busy planning retirement activities."