Treatment
Acupuncture: a complementary option for persistent pain
You exercise regularly and have already tried various treatments. Yet your back still limits some walks, or your knee hurts on every flight of stairs. Perhaps acupuncture has been recommended and you would like to know whether it could still make a useful contribution.
Open individual sections or all the details on this page.
Understanding risks and noticing changes
Small amounts of bleeding or bruising can occur at the needle sites. Temporary tiredness, dizziness, nausea or an increase in symptoms are also possible. A worsening of symptoms does not prove that treatment is working. Tell us about changes so they can be assessed.
Serious complications are rare but possible. They include infections and injury to deeper structures; needles in the chest area can also injure the lung. Tell the treatment team straight away if you experience symptoms during the session. New breathlessness or severe chest pain afterwards requires immediate medical help by calling 112. If redness or swelling increases, or you develop a fever, seek timely medical assessment.
Understanding
A closer look
The key questions are what you hope to gain and how well the method fits your symptoms. Possible pain relief can be valuable. At the same time, you should understand which expectations are justified and which other treatment steps remain important.
What happens during acupuncture
Acupuncture involves inserting thin needles into the skin at selected points on the body. No medicine is injected. The selected points may be in the painful area or elsewhere on the body.
The method comes from traditional Chinese medicine. Its concepts of energy pathways are a historical explanatory model; such pathways have not been scientifically demonstrated. Current research explores, among other things, how needle stimulation affects pain processing in the nervous system. Expectations, attentive care and the treatment setting can also contribute to the experience of improvement. How these elements interact is not fully understood. This does not mean that a particular effect can be guaranteed for every person.
What benefit may be realistic
There is evidence of pain relief from acupuncture for persistent lower back pain and knee osteoarthritis. However, results vary according to which patients were treated and what acupuncture was compared with. Differences are usually larger when compared with no additional treatment than with sham acupuncture, which may use different points or superficial stimulation, for example. These findings do not establish a reliable additional benefit of traditional point selection in every situation.
For your decision, this means that acupuncture can be discussed as a complementary option without promising a particular outcome. Treatment aims to address symptoms. It should not be taken to mean that worn cartilage can be restored or that every cause of back pain can be eliminated.
Further information
How treatment fits into an agreed plan
We first want to understand what you find difficult and which measures have helped so far. With back pain, this may be sitting for longer; with knee osteoarthritis, it may be walking to the shops. A positive previous experience of acupuncture is also useful to discuss, but it does not replace a current examination.
Adapted movement and strengthening remain important foundations for managing these symptoms. Depending on the findings, physiotherapy, aids or an agreed medicine plan may be added, for example. Acupuncture should complement such a plan in a useful way. If pain relief makes it easier for you to be active, that is a clear and understandable goal. The plan should also give you ways to help yourself.
What treatment can feel like
You may briefly feel the fine needles being inserted. Afterwards, some people describe a feeling of pressure, warmth or heaviness. Severe pain or unpleasant pain that persists is not something you need to endure for a better effect: please tell us during treatment.
Sterile, single-use needles are used for needle acupuncture. While the needles are in place, you remain in a suitable position that is as comfortable as possible. The name of the treatment alone does not determine a fixed number of sessions. The planned course must fit the clinical question and your progress so far.
How to recognise helpful progress
As well as the severity of your pain, notice whether an activity that matters to you changes. Can you walk a little longer again? Is your agreed exercise programme easier? These observations are more helpful than expecting to be completely pain-free after every session.
Helpful progress should be noticeable in everyday life. If there is no useful effect, or symptoms caused by treatment become the main concern, the plan needs to be reviewed. If you feel tired or dizzy after treatment, do not drive yourself. Discuss this before your first appointment in particular if you have a long journey home.
Your contact at OrthoCoast
At OrthoCoast, acupuncture is provided by Dipl. med. Matthias Dallmann. He is a specialist in orthopaedics and obtained the Akupunktur-A-Diplom in 2002. He works as part of individually agreed cover arrangements. Please therefore arrange a suitable appointment with the practice.
If acupuncture has already been recommended at your OrthoCoast consultation, use the agreed route to book the treatment appointment. An additional consultation solely to organise the appointment is not necessary. Please discuss any new or changed symptoms with us beforehand.
What to expect and next steps
How to prepare for your consultation
Bring your current medicine plan and any existing reports to the consultation. Note when the pain began, what limits you in everyday life and which treatments you have already tried. Their effects or side effects also help inform the shared decision.
Please tell us if you take blood-thinning medicines, have a blood-clotting disorder, are pregnant or have found previous needle treatments difficult to tolerate. Inflammation or unusual areas of skin should also be mentioned. Do not stop medicines on your own for this purpose.
If you are worried about needles, you are welcome to say so openly. We can talk through the individual steps with you. Which body areas will be treated, how long a session takes and the planned course for your needs are clarified before treatment.
What matters for your decision
Clarifying costs and possible insurance cover
German statutory health insurance provides for acupuncture under defined conditions for certain chronic lumbar spine pain and knee osteoarthritis. These include pain documented by a doctor over at least six months and further requirements, including the appropriate authorisation to bill the insurer. This general rule is not a promise that your appointment at OrthoCoast can be billed to statutory insurance. We clarify the arrangements and billing that apply to you beforehand.
First, we discuss possible benefits, limitations and alternatives. If you have German statutory health insurance and would like to pay for a service it does not cover, you will receive a cost estimate. The service is provided only after you have signed to confirm that you want the treatment and agree to pay its costs. You can take the information home, consider it at your own pace and decide later.
Our doctors in this specialty
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to believe in acupuncture for it to help?
You do not need to believe in the traditional explanatory model to discuss acupuncture. Expectations can influence the treatment experience. What matters is whether you notice a helpful effect; a lack of success is not a personal failure.
Can acupuncture allow me to stop taking painkillers?
This cannot be predicted. If your symptoms improve, your existing treatment can be reviewed together. Do not change or stop prescribed medicines solely because of a short-term improvement.
What does my practitioner’s A-Diplom mean?
The Akupunktur-A-Diplom is a training certificate. It is not equivalent to a formally recognised additional medical designation (Zusatzbezeichnung) and does not in itself mean that a treatment can be billed to your health insurer.
Can I request an appointment with a recommendation from another provider?
Yes. Bring the recommendation and any existing reports. First, we assess whether the proposed treatment fits your current situation. Availability and costs for your appointment are clarified with you individually.
Your next step
