Joe Duggan (Reporter)
NOBODY likes getting the needle.
But with acupuncture, a little prick can make all the difference.
And now the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) has formally approved its use to treat lower back pain on the Rock.
The GHA ratified the use of acupuncture after 11 physiotherapists were taught the practice at the GHA School of Health Studies last year.
John Cortes, Minister of Health, said: “They are a group of professionals whose contribution to the care of patients is often overlooked, but is absolutely vital.”
Do they use medicine in Gibraltar too – or just magic and voodoo?
Acupuncture is available in some cases on the NHS in Britain also. It’s quite cheap and often effective as a placebo in some conditions. It IS of course, voodoo, as is homeopathy and scores of other “alternative” procedures. We should not decry the placebo effect though, it can produce astounding results. So we ought to find a way to harness it without needing to stick pins in people.