Clinical studies support acupuncture as a complementary therapy for migraine sufferers. For example, regular acupuncture treatment can reduce the number of migraine days per month by 1–2 days, with some patients seeing even greater improvements over time.  This makes it a powerful, low-risk alternative to repeated medication use that so many of our patients often complain about.

How Acupuncture Works for Migraines

1. Re-balances your nervous system: Acupuncture stimulates the release of endorphins and regulates neurotransmitters, encouraging natural pain relief and stress reduction.

2. Relieves muscle tension: People with migraines often carry tightness in neck and shoulder muscles. Acupuncture can target and ease these tense areas, which might help prevent flare-ups.

3. Supports vascular health: Migraines are linked to changes in blood flow — and acupuncture may help stabilise vascular function, reducing the frequency of pulsating headaches.

4. Promotes better sleep and mood: Improving sleep quality and lowering anxiety are key in managing migraines — and acupuncture works holistically on both fronts.

What to Expect from Treatment

How many sessions are required?
Every case is unique, but if we were to generalise, we would recommend an initial course of 6 – 8 weekly sessions. Many experience noticeable changes within the first couple of session.

What happens during a session?
We insert thin, sterile needles into specific points, often around the head, neck, shoulders, and hands. Each session lasts about 30 minutes, and most patients find the experience deeply relaxing, sometimes even drifting off as we treat.

Is it painful or risky?
Not at all. Our needles are very fine, and discomfort is minimal. Acupuncture is considered one of the safest complementary therapies when performed by qualified practitioners, such as the team at Physiofusion.

Who Should Consider Acupuncture for Migraines?

Acupuncture might be a good option if you:

• Experience frequent or chronic migraines
• Want to reduce your reliance on medication
• Prefer holistic, non-pharmaceutical treatments
• Have tried other treatments without sufficient relief

It’s also a useful addition to existing care, such as physiotherapy, counselling, or nutritional advice. Providing a comprehensive, patient-centred approach.

Ready to Start Migraine Relief?

If migraines are holding you back, acupuncture under the care of our experienced team could provide the relief you’ve been searching for. At Physiofusion, our friendly practitioners will tailor your sessions to your specific needs and monitor progress along the way.

If you have any question for queries before hand, you can use out FREE service, here, where you can ask out experts directly and then can advise what they would recommend for your specific condition.

Ways to prevent lower back pain whilst working at home

Posture

There is often a lot of emphasis on our posture and how it affects issues with our lower back. This has painted a picture that there is an ideal posture and position that prevent or reduce the risk of pain.

Unfortunately, it seems one size does not fit all and an “ideal” posture is less likely to get rid of our back pain. In fact, looking down at our computer screen with a rounded/slouched posture (which is often labelled as a poor posture) is no more likely to cause back pain than sat bolt upright, with a computer level with your eyes.

All kinds of different postures are required throughout the day during different tasks, such as reaching in cupboards or picking up objects (small or large). Therefore, static postures may cause more of a problem and it is a much better idea to expose our body to plenty of different postures during our working day.

If you are unsure what kind of posture you may be adopting during your working day or are struggling to find strategies to keep your posture moving, reach out to your Physiotherapist for free advice.

Work station

This directly follows on from the ideas discussed about posture. Offices and places of work are normally equipped with adjustable chairs, monitors, remote keyboards and even adjustable tables in some cases. Following the rapid changes as a result of lockdown, many of us were forced to work from our kitchen table and sofas, meaning less flexibility or adjustability to the work station.

As stated earlier, it is recommended to change our posture regularly and this becomes a lot easier when we are sat in a chair that swivels, rocks, rolls and changes height compared to a kitchen chair with 4 legs for example or a sofa where it is easy to get “comfy”.

Therefore, if we are now working from home, we should try investing in more appropriate equipment that may facilitate changes in position or posture. Your workplace should be provided the equipment you need to work from home, so speak to them if you need any adjusments/upgrades.

Energy Bills!

Interestingly, there also appears to be a link with temperature and back pain. With the current rise in the cost of energy bills, it is understandable that keeping the heating on all day during the winter whilst working from home may not be possible.

Developing cost effective strategies to keep warm may have a significant impact on pain levels. While it sounds like stating the obvious, simply wearing plenty of layers and using hot water bottles can help maintain heat around the lower back area and prevent the muscles from stiffening up and moving at regular intervals.

General exercise

One of the most important preventative measures for the onset of lower back pain is regularly engaging in exercise.

Developing a more resilient, strong and flexible version of ourselves decreases the chances of  pain, along with the added benefits of supporting our mental health and general well-being.

Don’t just think we need to sign up to a gym. This can be anything that we enjoy, from walking the dog, engaging in a new team sport, going to the gym, home exercises or even going to dance classes. So long as we get our heart rate up and our body moving.

Here’s 10 best general exercises to do from home.

In contrast, there can be very specific exercises to build up strength in and around our lower back. If you require specific guidance on which types of exercise might be right for you, then seek guidance from your Physiotherapist who will also provide suggestions on the intensity and duration of the exercise you carry out.

Deep tissue massage and spinal mobilisations

These hands-on techniques can be delivered by a Physiotherapist to treat pain, tension, tightness and restore range of motion. This may involve working on soft tissues, such as muscles or targeting joints in the spine.

This is a highly specific and individual approach and would require an appointment with a Physiotherapist. Alternatively, Theraflex therapy at Physiofusion can be used to deliver spinal mobilisations at higher volumes than the hands can produce. To learn more about this pioneering NEW service, click here.

If you are unsure about your lower back pain, you can speak to our Physiotherapists for FREE using our online service, here.

These guidelines are currently unchanged. Due to this and our commitment to maximal safety for our patients, our current COVID Prevention Processes will remain UNCHANGED.

We are still committed to our sterilization processes, cleaning protocols, FULL PPE including enhanced clinician masks, people and environment risk assessments and much more.

We hope you therefore understand that as we work so hard to keep both you and our own staff safe, that we are requesting that you continue to attend wearing a mask when you are on our premises.

Those of you that are medically vulnerable tend to be in higher volumes in medical practices like ours and we cannot ‘see’ who they are so we must assume that maximal health protection for all is the minimum we can do for each other.

We thank you very much for your understanding and commitment to each other’s safety.

With best regards. Stay well.

The Physiofusion Team

If you have any questions, please send your queries to our practice manager, Amanda at: info@physiofusion.co.uk

Although exercise is extremely beneficial both physically and mentally, it is important that we firstly make sure that we have enough energy to complete our planned exercise regime of the day. A warm up and cool down/recovery period are also important to keep possible injuries at bay.

3 important tips for running

Maintaining sufficient energy:

Fatigue is a common factor associated with injury.  Fatigue is another term for over exhaustion. Often, people are unaware as to why they may feel ‘niggles’ and become injured and may not remember a specific point or incident in which caused a certain injury. When we engage in too much exercise, we are overloading the body. When fatigued, the muscle is more likely to be under more pressure than usual and can’t function as strongly as it would usually, therefore, is more likely to become injured.

We can avoid this by switching up different types of exercise, alternating the days we do certain activities and by including rest days, including a warm up and recovery period too.

Importance of a warm up:

A warm up can be anything of a light cardiovascular exercise. It is done prior to the main exercise session being done and can be a brisk walk to a slight jog for 10- 15 minutes. A period of light stretching can also be done as part of the warm up. A warm up can evoke an increase in temperature from an increased circulation of blood around the body, which ensures that the muscles are provided with enough blood and oxygen to carry out the exercise.

Warm ups also initiate neural related effects so that the muscles contract effectively to during the given exercise. Stretching can increase the muscle length and range of motion around a joint which will then help with movement during exercise.

Importance of a cool down or recovery period;

Well done, you have completed your exercise for the day! Just 5 or 10 more minutes and you are set to go and do it all over again! Did you know that a cool down or recovery period is just as important as a warm up? Well, its true, it is!

A cool down helps to reduce DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) by reducing the amount of lactic acid build up in the muscles. A simple walk followed by stretching can help alleviate those muscles from possible soreness. A walk will allow more controlled and deeper breathing, which helps replenish the blood with the oxygen it needs, that can then be sent to the muscles as they will be in a state of what we like to call ‘oxygen debt’ from the exercise. The muscles have used up almost all the oxygen by the end of most exercise sessions! Oxygen debt is a term simply to describe the lack of oxygen the muscles have.

It is our duty to replenish the muscles by including a recovery period so that they don’t become injured or sore. You will then be able to continue with your exercise plans and regimes easier without the worry of causing injury.

To compliment your outdoor exercises, here’s a link for 6 core exercises to do from your living room.

Happy Exercising!

If you have any questions or you would like some advice, feel free to message me using our FREE online service. I would be more than happy to help you where I can!

Charlotte (Sports Therapist, Physiofusion)