York Clinic
NICE guidance on acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy for low back pain
Date: 27th May 2009
According to NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, patients with persistent low back pain should be offered acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy on the NHS. Based on rigorous clinical research, some of which was carried out at the York Clinic, this is the first time that NICE has explicitly backed the use of complementary therapies.
Patients should consider opting for one of three complementary treatments: acupuncture, chiropractic and osteopathy. This would normally involve up to 10 sessions of acupuncture over 12 weeks, or a course of chiropractic and osteopathy over a course of up to nine sessions of spinal manipulation, mobilisation or massage.
The decision to include acupuncture in this guidance was in part as a result of research conducted by the University of Sheffield at the York Clinic which was published in the British Medical Journal.
References:
Thomas KJ, MacPherson H, Thorpe L, et al. Randomised controlled trial of a short course of traditional acupuncture compared to usual care for persistent low back pain. British Medical Journal, 2006; 333: 623-626.
Ratcliffe J, Thomas KJ, MacPherson H, Brazier J. A randomised controlled trial of acupuncture care for lower back pain: cost effectiveness analysis. British Medical Journal, 2006; 333: 626-628.For more details on our research conducted at the York Clinic into acupuncture for low back pain that contributed to the NICE guidelines, click here.
For a video of about the decision from NICE, see More4 News, 27th May 2009.