William Begley lives with chronic back pain and after hearing about the benefits of acupuncture decided to ditch the pills to try something alternative. The Derry man was referred to acupuncturist Clare Desmond for treatment. Clare using the ancient Chinese treatment, which involves inserting fine needles at specific meridians of the body.
Acupuncture is the technique of inserting and manipulating fine filiform needles into specific points on the body with the aim of relieving pain and for therapeutic purposes. According to acupuncture theory, these acupuncture points lie along meridians along which qi, a kind of vital energy, is said to flow. It is a popular complementary therapy for a variety of ailments including lower back pain.
William was taking prescribed medication for his back problems when he was introduced to acupuncture. "I heard of the treatment from word of mouth, that’s how I got to know about it", he said. "I suffer from continuous back pain and so I received acupuncture, which I thought was brilliant, it was very effective".
After a few sessions William noticed a great difference in his pain levels. He said: "I think as an alternative medicine I would definitely recommend it, I thought it was very, very good and really enjoyed the service that I got. "I was taking a lot of medication for my back until I got the acupuncture, then after a few treatments I was able to come off it". But the patient found after he ceased the treatments he had to start taking medication again. "The only problem I had was after I stopped having the acupuncture the pain came back and I had to revert to the traditional anti-inflammatories", said William. "The impression I got was you would need to have regular treatments to keep up the effect. It’s a pity the scheme ended because it worked so well for me, and even right now I am very sore. I am sore every day, but when I had the acupuncture I went for weekly sessions, and they seemed to completely stave off the pain".