Acupuncture in Holborn

Sitting slouched over a computer keyboard all day is a sure-fire way to get chronic back ache. A couple of weeks ago, I started to feel a twinge of pain in my upper back. By the end of the day, the pain had reached a crescendo. I could barely focus on my work. I took a fistful of anti-inflammatories and lay on the hard floor to lengthen my spine and relieve the tension. It didn’t work. I stretched, applied heating patches, took more drugs, but still no joy.

My GP referred me to a physio. Ten days later, I still didn’t have an appointment (the NHS marches to a different drummer – a drummer on mogadon, by all accounts). Anyway, long story short, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I’d read that acupuncture can work for back pain and, unlike many other alternative remedies, there is some hard research to back these claims. In fact, a couple of week’s ago, the science journal, Nature Neuroscience, published a study that potentially revealed how acupuncture works. It would appear that the insertion of needles creates a rush of adenosine to the affected area. Adenosine is a powerful anti-inflammatory.

I made an appointment to see Duncan McGechie at Theobalds Natural Health clinic. Duncan is accredited by the British Acupuncture Council and, aside from holding a BSc in Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture from the University of Westminster, has also studied Tui Na massage in China.

Before Duncan got down to inserting the acupuncture needles, he first did some Tui Na. I would be a liar if I said it was painless having my tender back kneaded, rolled and pressed. By contrast, I barely felt the acupuncture needles being inserted.

At the end of the session, my back and shoulders ached, so it was difficult to tell whether the therapy had worked. But, by the time I got home, all the pain had subsided. The acid test would be sitting in front of the computer. Five minutes of typing, I noted that there was no pain. I half expected the pain to come back the following day, but it didn’t. It had gone, completely. Not even a twinge remained. And, as I type this, four days later, I still feel no pain. I’m definitely an acupuncture convert. Now I just need to get my lousy posture sorted out.

Duncan McGechie
Theobalds Natural Health
46 Theobalds Road
Holborn
WC1X 8NW

Tel. 07891 244 645

www.acupuncturebodywork.co.uk