Making a point of good therapy

Karen Keith is no stranger to the practice of acupuncture, having inserted millions of needles over more than 20 years.

On Saturday she will become the University of Otago's first master of physiotherapy in acupuncture.

• Graduation list - 15th May, 2011

After completing her physiotherapy training at Otago Polytechnic in 1979, Ms Keith spent many years practising physiotherapy in Waimate and Timaru.

Early in her career she noted the good results one of her colleagues was getting by using acupuncture and decided to undertake some training.

Her enthusiasm for its use grew and it became a large part of her physiotherapy practice.

Ms Keith liked to use it for a variety of conditions, including menopausal hot flushes, musculoskeletal conditions, and anxiety and stress.

It was also often used to help people with nausea after chemotherapy treatment.

Although acupuncture treatment did not work for a small number of patients, most got benefits from it.

Often people who were keen to try acupuncture would not, or could not, take medication.

Someone waiting for a knee-replacement might not want to take painkillers or anti-inflammatory medication long-term and they could get relief within 24 hours of a treatment, she said.

With needles costing between 8c and 23c each, they were a cost-effective alternative.

Seeing patients benefit from the treatment was what had kept her "hooked" on it, she said.

Ms Keith returned to Dunedin to study for her Master's degree over three years at the university's school of physiotherapy.

While she already had clinical skills and had been involved with training others, she needed to undertake papers in other subjects including statistics and complete a dissertation.

The study had made her less accepting and more inquiring, she said.

As a professional practice fellow, she teaches acupuncture at the school, which has offered the subject at postgraduate level since 2004 to an average of 12 students a year. The school has run acupuncture short courses for more than a decade.

Ms Keith said the hardest thing for learners was locating acupuncture points.

Acupuncture had almost become mainstream, Ms Keith said.

When she first started, "I had to sell it to people, but now people come in an ask for it."

She would like to see more good quality randomised controlled trials.

Ms Keith hopes to attend the world physiotherapy congress in Amsterdam later this year.

For the past eight years she has been the chairwoman of the International Acupuncture Association of Physical Therapists, part of the World Confederation for Physical Therapists.

- elspeth.mclean@odt.co.nz