For the full article please see The Daily Mail On-line
A WWII veteran who has suffered chronic pain since he was caught in an explosion has finally been cured of the suffering after he gave in to his wife’s nagging – and had acupuncture.
Bernard Martin, 85, had been forced to take 19 painkillers a day to ease the agony of the injuries which have stayed with him for most of his life.
The father-of-one was caught in two lethal blasts in Malaysia and Germany in 1945, suffering spinal damage and contracting malaria and leptospirosis, while serving with British forces.While his injuries healed he was left with lingering pain in his back and headaches which have frustrated him for the rest of his life.
He refused to go to an acupuncturist for two years despite his wife Gloria, 79, constantly claiming it had helped her osteoporosis.
But he eventually gave in and has made such an incredible improvement medics have taken him off all his medication.
Mr Martin said his pain is now ‘virtually non existent’ and said he is overjoyed to be able to lift his right leg for the first time in 67 years.
To be fair this is not an uncommon story, whilst Medical Science has made amazing discoveries in the area of pain control it has struggled to find any convincing solutions or management for chronic lower back pain, some times referred to as non-specific lower back disorder (and that label says it all), and often leaves patients in pain whilst taking astonishing amounts of strong pain killers with some nasty side effects. NICE and the NHS recommend acupuncture for this condition and if you are lucky enough to be referred to an NHS Physiotherapist you will most likely get acupuncture as part of your treatment.
Back pain can be tremendously debilitating and having suffered from Sciatica I know how you feel, but with acupuncture and some Qi Gong exercises I keep it well managed.
