I unfortunately see many people who are patiently awaiting knee replacements, hip replacements, shoulder surgery, and other pain alleviating procedures. It greatly upsets me that patients here in Victoria have to wait anywhere from 4-16 months for surgery depending on what they require. That is the state of our medical system (but that is for another rant!) and people are left with the responsibility of managing their pain while they wait.
My role as a Registered Acupuncturist is to ease the pain until they get a surgery date. In many cases acupuncture can reduce the pain quite significantly but if a joint is at the point of needing to be replaced then the pain relief may only be temporary. The relief can last anywhere from days to weeks depending on what the severity is. It is always worth trying a series of acupuncture treatments. Most patients find they get significant pain relief with no side effects.
My recommendation to anyone who is stuck in this situation is to first do as much as you can to manage the pain, and second follow up with your doctor/surgeon to see if there are any cancellations and to confirm you are still on “the list”.
I mainly wrote this article to share this link with you that shows approximate wait times for all different types of surgery in BC.