Unfortunately there are times when surgical intervention is necessary, although this is always the last resort. Sometimes there is pain following surgery that can be very distressing, especially when that may have been the reason for having surgery in the first place. It takes a while for things to settle down, after all the painkillers, bed rest, etc. Generally, surgeons like to get patients mobile as quickly as possible and this supports a rapid recovery.

Of course there is likely to be pain following surgery as the body heals itself. However, if there is still pain after a suitable recovery period, then acupuncture treatment may be able to help. Recently I treated a lady who had surgery for a lower back problem and was still in pain some months later. By palpating the muscles and feeling for tender points and areas where the muscles were tight, I was able to completely get rid of her pain using acupuncture. In this case it took six treatments. Not everyone is going to respond this successfully. There maybe some progress with acupuncture and then we hit a brick wall. It depends what permanent damage there is, and after having surgery it is very difficult to assess this.