About Amber

Womens Health & Wellbeing

In our fast-paced modern world, stress and lack of time create health issues for many women. Amber works closely with busy mums and career women who want to regain control of their health so they can enjoy their life and precious time alone or with family and friends.

Many women neglect self-care which can take a toll on their physical and emotional wellbeing. Pain can take many forms, either physical or psychological, and the effect of neglecting your health for years can easily accumulate to the point where something has to give.

Amber works closely with women of all backgrounds and age stages. She listens carefully to fully understand the problems involved, get a detailed history and develop a comprehensive treatment plan.

Amber understands that many women, and particularly mothers, put themselves last. She puts women first and helps women learn to put themselves first too. So they can get their life back on track and enjoy the increased energy and sense of wellbeing that comes with good health.

Acupuncture for Pain

Acupuncture is increasingly used as part of a broader approach to managing pain. Research suggests that its effects are not simply a matter of treating a painful area locally. Acupuncture can influence the nervous system, the body’s own pain-relieving mechanisms and, potentially, processes involved in inflammation.

The way acupuncture works is complex and is still being investigated. However, there is evidence that it can influence pain processing in both the peripheral nervous system and the brain.

Acupuncture and acute pain

Acute pain develops suddenly, often following an injury, surgery, strain or another identifiable event.  It is the body’s protective alarm system, alerting us that something may need attention.

Acupuncture may help acute pain in several ways including supporting the body’s natural pain-relieving system, influencing inflammation and creating an anti-inflammatory effect, reducing muscle spasm and tension, thus reducing stress and interrupting the cycle which causes the pain and muscle guarding.

Helping the body move out of a stress response

Acute pain can be stressful. Pain and stress can reinforce one another: when we are worried, tense or on high alert, the nervous system can become more sensitive to painful signals.

Acupuncture appears to influence nervous-system activity, including pathways involved in pain processing, autonomic regulation and stress responses.

For some people, this may contribute to a shift away from a heightened “fight-or-flight” state towards a calmer “rest-and-digest” state.

Acupuncture and chronic pain

Chronic pain is different from acute pain, it is not short-term and often persists even after the injury or problem has improved.

Over time, the nervous system can become more sensitive to pain. The brain and spinal cord can change the way they process incoming signals — a process known as neuroplasticity.

Acupuncture appears to interact with these pain-processing networks.  Brain-imaging and other research has demonstrated changes in areas of the nervous system involved in processing pain following acupuncture.  In some conditions, these changes have been associated with improvements in symptoms that persist beyond the treatment period.

This is sometimes described in everyday language as acupuncture helping to “rewire” the nervous system.  A more precise description is that acupuncture may influence the way the brain and peripheral nervous system process and regulate pain.

Does acupuncture have lasting effects?

One of the most interesting findings from acupuncture research is that its benefits do not necessarily disappear as soon as a course of treatment ends.

A large 2016 analysis looked at individual patient data from 29 clinical trials involving 17,922 people with chronic pain. Longer-term follow-up was available for 6,376 patients. The researchers found that the effects of acupuncture declined only slightly after treatment, with their central estimate suggesting that approximately 90% of the benefit relative to control treatment remained at 12 months.

An updated analysis published in 2017, involving 20,827 patients from 39 trials, examined chronic musculoskeletal pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headache and shoulder pain. It found that acupuncture was more effective than both sham acupuncture and no acupuncture, although the difference compared with sham acupuncture was smaller. The researchers estimated that the treatment effect decreased by approximately 15% over one year.

This is important because it suggests that, for some chronic pain conditions, acupuncture may provide benefits that continue beyond the period in which treatment is actually being given.

What does this mean for someone living with pain?

The scientific picture is not that acupuncture is a cure for all pain. Its effectiveness varies according to the type of pain, the individual and the circumstances.

The strongest clinical evidence is for conditions such as chronic musculoskeletal pain, osteoarthritis and some types of headache and migraine. Research also suggests potential benefits for several other pain conditions.

Acupuncture appears to work through several interacting pathways rather than one single mechanism. These may include:

• activation of the body’s natural pain-relieving systems
• changes in how pain signals are processed by the brain and spinal cord
• effects on peripheral nerves and local tissues
• modulation of inflammatory and neuroimmune signalling
• changes in muscle tension and protective muscle guarding
• effects on the autonomic nervous system and stress response

Importantly, acupuncture is best considered as one possible component of a comprehensive approach to pain management, rather than a replacement for appropriate medical assessment or other evidence-based treatments.

The science is continuing to evolve, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear: acupuncture’s effects involve much more than simply putting a needle into a painful area. It interacts with the body’s nervous, chemical and regulatory systems that help determine how pain is experienced.

Professional Acupuncture Affiliations: