Health encyclopaedia

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Risks of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a safe treatment if carried out by a trained practitioner. Serious complications such as infection, punctured lung or spinal cord injury are extremely rare. Risks such as these usually only occur as a result of bad practice or a poorly trained acupuncturist. A properly trained acupuncturist will always use clean needles and dispose of them after every use.

If you do receive treatment, it is important to visit a properly trained and registered acupuncturist. At the moment, anyone in this country can call him or herself an acupuncturist because it is not a state regulated profession. However, there are several main UK acupuncture authorities that employ trained and experienced acupuncturists.  They are:

• the British Acupuncture Council (BacC),
• the British Medical Acupuncture Society (BMAS), and
• the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP)

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