Wellingborough acupuncture fibromyalgia patient brought back from depths of despair thanks to Stanwick therapist

A Wellingborough university researcher has been brought back from the depths of despair after being treated for pain with acupuncture.

Fibromyalgia had affected Maxine Glover’s quality of life to the point where she felt pain in the whole of her body and could only walk with a stick.

Using painkillers and other forms of therapy had not worked so the 56-year-old thought she had nothing to lose after hearing about acupuncture.

Since starting treatment with Stanwick-based acupuncturist Spod Dutton, she has been able to walk and move her head properly.

She said: “I had been suffering with pain on and off for years, with the benefit of hindsight, I now believe that this was fibromyalgia all along. To help manage my condition, I used to visit an osteopath and immediately after treatment I would feel better, but then a day later I would be back to square one. I was at the depths of despair pain-wise.”

Maxine is sharing her story as part of Acupuncture Awareness Week, which runs from March 25 to April 1.

Maxine first experienced lower back pain that progressed into chronic pain which she felt in most parts of her body. In January 2021 she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. In order to cope with the pain, she took the maximum number of painkillers she could. Her job as a researcher became increasingly difficult – the pain became too much.

She said: “I didn’t feel I was having any form of quality of life and became quite down about my condition. Then a friend of mine saw an advert for an acupuncturist which talked about acupuncture and the management of pain. I felt I had nothing to lose. After the first session, the pain relief was amazing.”

For the first time in ages, Maxine was able to move her head from side to side and the medication was actually taking the pain away, rather that just taking the top off of it. Her lower back felt much freer and she could stand for longer periods of time, without the aide of a stick.

After four sessions of a mixture of acupuncture and cupping she became more mobile and in less pain. As the sessions have progressed, the overall pain-relieving effect has lasted longer. Maxine is still taking pain relief medications, but feels that she is now able to control it. She still takes her stick out with her but no longer uses it to help her walk. As it has a seat, she sometimes uses it to sit down as she still finds it difficult to stand for long periods of time.

Spod Dutton, owner of The Modern Acupuncture Clinic in Stanwick, has been in business for more than seven years performing thousands of treatments on hundreds of patients.

He said: “Acupuncture is an extremely versatile healthcare system that can be used to treat a variety of conditions from wellbeing problems such as stress and anxiety through to fertility and chronic pain. In some cases the patient will report an improvement within one to three treatments but they may still need several more treatments for the improvements to really stick.

Maxine added: “I now feel so much stronger emotionally and I’m getting my life back.”