Acupuncture for Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

Repetitive strain injury can make typing, using a mouse, playing an instrument or lifting a kettle painful, and can threaten your ability to work. Acupuncture is used alongside rest, stretching and changes to how you work to ease pain in the hands, wrists, forearms and elbows, and trials of related conditions such as tennis elbow have reported short-term pain relief. Our practitioners have been treating pain in London for 25 years.

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

What causes RSI?

RSI is a general term for pain in the muscles, tendons and nerves caused by repeated movements or staying in one position for a long time. It often follows long hours of keyboard and mouse use, poor posture and seating, assembly or manual work, or playing music. Symptoms include aching, burning or throbbing, stiffness, tingling, cramp and weakness.

RSI can include specific conditions such as tennis elbow, tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. See your GP if your hand or arm is weak, swollen, constantly numb, or if pain persists despite rest.

How acupuncture can help

For RSI, we use acupuncture to help ease pain and muscle tension so you can keep working and recover. It works best alongside rest breaks, stretching and strengthening, and changes to your workstation, and many patients find it gives them the relief they need to make those changes stick.

Because RSI covers several different problems, we start by working out which structures are involved, from the neck and shoulder down to the fingers. We’ll tell you honestly if we think you need a specialist opinion or physiotherapy alongside treatment.

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

There are few trials of acupuncture for RSI as a whole, but research on conditions that come under the RSI umbrella is 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.
• Dong et al., 2023 (Frontiers in Neuroscience) — 16 trials and 1,025 people with carpal tunnel syndrome. Acupuncture added to standard care improved symptoms and nerve conduction, though the evidence was rated low certainty.

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, including your work and hobbies, look at any scans or nerve test results you bring, and agree a plan with you. Treatment uses very fine, single-use needles in the arm, shoulder and neck, left in for 15 to 20 minutes. Where suitable we may add 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