Acupuncture for Sports Injuries

A sports injury can stop you training, competing or simply enjoying the activity that keeps you well. Acupuncture and dry needling are widely used by athletes alongside rehab to ease pain and muscle tightness, and trials for common sports problems such as tennis elbow and heel pain have reported less pain after treatment. Our practitioners have been treating pain in London for 25 years. At the clinic we see a range of professional athletes, serious amateurs and more casual sport enthusiasts.

Book an initial consultation or call 0207 935 2030 for a free 15-minute chat.

What causes sports injuries?

Sports injuries happen when the body is overloaded suddenly, such as a sprained ankle or pulled hamstring, or gradually through overuse, such as runner’s knee, Achilles pain or tennis elbow. Common factors include increasing training too quickly, poor technique or equipment, not warming up, previous injuries and not enough recovery.

For any new injury, rest, ice, compression and elevation help in the first few days. See your GP or go to A&E if you can’t put weight on a limb, a joint looks deformed or is very swollen, you heard a pop or crack, or you have numbness or weakness. Read about specific problems on our tennis elbow, knee pain and plantar fasciitis pages.

How acupuncture can help

For sports injuries, we use acupuncture and dry needling to help ease pain and release tight, overworked muscles so you can get on with your rehab and return to training. It works best alongside a structured strengthening programme, and many active patients use it to help manage niggles before they become injuries.

We see a wide range of problems, including muscle strains, tendon pain, runner’s knee, shin pain, hamstring and calf tightness, and shoulder and elbow pain from racquet sports. We’ll assess you, use acupuncture as one part of a plan, often alongside your physiotherapist, and tell you honestly if you need a scan or specialist opinion.

Researchers think acupuncture works partly by changing how nerves and the brain process pain signals, including the release of the body’s own pain-relieving chemicals. The exact mechanisms are still being studied.

What the research shows

Research on acupuncture for acute sports injuries is limited, but trials of common overuse problems are encouraging:

• Trinh et al., 2004 (Rheumatology) — a systematic review of high-quality trials found strong evidence that acupuncture gives short-term relief of tennis elbow pain.
• Cotchett et al., 2014 (Physical Therapy) — 84 people with heel pain. Weekly dry needling for six weeks reduced pain more than sham needling.
• Vickers et al., 2018 (Journal of Pain) — combined raw data from 39 trials and 20,827 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Acupuncture outperformed both sham and no acupuncture, and most of the benefit was still there a year later.

Results vary between people, and acupuncture is not a replacement for medical assessment.

What to expect

Your first appointment lasts an hour. We take a full history of your injury and training, look at any scans or reports you bring, and agree a plan with you. Treatment uses very fine, single-use needles around the injured area and elsewhere, left in for 15 to 20 minutes. Where suitable we may add dry needling, electro-acupuncture, cupping or a heat lamp.

Most people start with weekly sessions and we review progress together after four to six. Initial consultations start from £80; see clinics and fees for details.

Why The London Acupuncture Clinic

• 25 years treating patients in London
• Degree-qualified practitioners who work alongside GPs and consultants, with close links to physiotherapists and chiropractors
• Open seven days a week, with early-morning and evening appointments
• Receipts for insurance claims on request

What our patients say

“I came in with damage to both knees from running. Vikki took time to understand my issues and performed two sessions of acupuncture and cupping.” — Z.V., Google review