What do we Treat?

“Because we all have unique inherited constitutions and different life health histories, at Pinpoint we believe a person’s road map to best health requires an individual assessment matched with a personalised treatment plan.”

While TCM is a whole system of medicine with a long history of use, some indications of what we treat in context with some of the available modern evidence are as follows. Listed under headings below are health conditions with moderate to strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating the conditions are listed.

Traditionally acupuncture has been used to assist a wide variety of conditions. Not all conditions traditionally treated are listed due to strict AHPRA advertising laws that require any claims of efficacy to be substantiated with a body of high-quality evidence (clinical trials). This level of evidence may not yet be available for all health conditions due to the difficulties of creating enough high-quality clinical trials. Fortunately, the quality and quantity of research into acupuncture’s effectiveness is increasing.

For those interested in reading further into the state of evidence regarding acupuncture and particular health conditions please refer to “The Acupuncture Evidence Project- A Comparative Literature Review”

Plain English Summary (PDF, 104KB)

The Acupuncture Evidence Project: A Comparative Literature Review (2017) (PDF, 1.42MB)

Pain Management
(Chronic or Acute)

  • Chronic low back pain (1,2)
  • Postoperative pain (3)
  • Postoperative pain – back surgery (4)
  • Postoperative pain – knee surgery (5,6)
  • Knee osteoarthritis (7)
  • Acute low back pain (8)
  • Cancer pain (9)
  • Sciatica (10)
  • Sensory perception- especially pressure pain threshold (11)
  • Temporomandibular pain (12)

Various Musculoskeletal/Sports Injuries

  • Knee osteoarthritis (13)
  • Acute low back pain (14)
  • Lateral elbow pain (15)
  • Neck pain -Neck pain and associated disorders (NAD) (16)
  • Plantar heel pain (17)
  • Shoulder pain (18)

Headaches, Migraines, Neurological disorders

  • Headache (frequent episodic or chronic tension-type) (19,20)
  • Migraine prophylaxis (21,22,23)
  • Acute & Post-stroke neurological impairment and dysfunction (24,25,26)
  • Post-stroke spasticity (27)
  • Post-stroke insomnia (28)
  • Post-stroke shoulder pain (29)

Digestive Dysfunction

  • Chemotherapy-induced nausea (CINV) and vomiting (with anti-emetics) (30,31)
  • Post-operative nausea & vomiting (PONV) (32,33)
  • Constipation (17)
  • Irritable bowel syndrome (34)
  • Recovery after colorectal cancer resection (35)

Allergies, Respiratory & Poor Immunity

  • Allergic rhinitis (seasonal and perennial/persistent) (36,37,38)
  • Asthma in adults (39)
  • Dry eye (40)
  • Smoking cessation-Up to 3 months post-treatment (41)

Anxiety & Stress,Low Energy or Sleep Difficulties

  • Anxiety (42)
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (43)
  • Insomnia (44,45)
  • Pre-treatment/ Pre-operative anxiety (46)
  • Restless leg syndrome (47)

Women’s Health

  • Back or pelvic pain during pregnancy (48,49)
  • Hypertension (with medication) (50)
  • Labour pain (51)
  • Menopausal hot flushes (52)
  • Perimenopausal & postmenopausal insomnia (53)
  • Aromatase-inhibitor- induced arthralgia (54)

Men’s Health

  • Hypertension (with medication) (50)
    Prostatitis pain/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (55,56)

Condition Not Listed

Is your condition not listed or you are unsure? Please contact us for more information.

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