Advanced medical acupuncture training for clinicians working with sports injuries, rehabilitation and athletic performance

Develop the clinical confidence to integrate medical acupuncture, dry needling and electroacupuncture into sports injury management, recovery planning and performance-focused care. This specialist postgraduate certificate is designed for healthcare professionals and therapists who want to move beyond basic point selection and develop a more systematic, evidence-informed approach to treating athletes and active patients. Whether you work with runners, field-sport athletes, gym users, recreational exercisers or competitive performers, this course will help you understand how acupuncture can be applied alongside rehabilitation, manual therapy, biomechanics, strength work and wider MSK management.

Comprehensive Sports Acupuncture Training

Learn how to integrate acupuncture into sports medicine for pain management and performance enhancement.

Expert-Led by Steve Bailey

Gain insights from a renowned practitioner with over 25 years of experience in sports acupuncture and musculoskeletal management.

Practical Application Focus

Discover techniques to enhance muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and accelerate recovery post-injury.

Become more confident in treating sports injuries with acupuncture

Many clinicians complete foundation acupuncture or dry needling training but still feel unsure how to apply it confidently to sports injuries. You may understand the basic needling techniques, but still ask yourself: • Which points are most appropriate for a tendon injury, ankle sprain or heel pain presentation? • How do I combine acupuncture with exercise rehabilitation, soft tissue work, joint mobilisation, gait analysis or orthotic management? • When should I use manual acupuncture, dry needling, electroacupuncture, auricular acupuncture or laser acupuncture? • Can acupuncture support recovery, DOMS, muscle performance or competitive anxiety? • How do I create a treatment plan that is clinically reasoned rather than just protocol-based? This course has been created to close that gap. It gives you a structured clinical framework for using acupuncture in sports medicine, helping you make better decisions, select more appropriate treatment strategies and communicate your clinical reasoning clearly to patients and athletes.

Why this course is different

This is not a generic acupuncture course. It is a specialist postgraduate certificate focused on the real-world management of sports injuries, lower limb disorders, recovery and performance enhancement. You will learn how to think clinically, assess the presentation, understand the likely tissues involved, select appropriate acupuncture methods, and integrate treatment into a wider rehabilitation plan. The course brings together: • Western medical acupuncture • Dry needling • Electroacupuncture • Myofascial trigger point reasoning • Selected TCM principles where clinically relevant • Sports injury assessment • Tendon, muscle, joint and neural presentations • Recovery and performance-focused protocols • Patient information sheets and clinical assessments • Practical treatment planning for clinic use

Who is this course for?

This postgraduate certificate is suitable for clinicians who want to specialise in sports injury management and performance-focused acupuncture. It is particularly relevant for: • Physiotherapists managing MSK and sports injury caseloads • Podiatrists treating lower limb and running-related injuries • Sports therapists working with athletes and active patients • Osteopaths and chiropractors who use acupuncture or dry needling • Clinicians who have completed foundation-level acupuncture and want to progress • Practitioners who want a more structured approach to sports acupuncture • Clinicians who want to differentiate their clinic with a specialist sports medicine service This course is best suited to practitioners who already have a foundation understanding of acupuncture, dry needling or medical needling. You should also work within your professional scope of practice and ensure that your insurance covers the techniques you intend to use clinically.

What you will learn

By the end of the course, you will be able to: • Apply clinical reasoning to acupuncture point selection in sports injury presentations • Assess common lower limb and athletic injuries with greater confidence • Understand when to use local, segmental, distal, myofascial or electroacupuncture approaches • Integrate acupuncture with rehabilitation, strengthening, mobility work and manual therapy • Develop treatment plans for tendon, muscle, ligament, joint and overuse injuries • Use acupuncture as part of a wider strategy for pain management, recovery and return to sport • Understand the potential role of acupuncture in DOMS, muscle strength, exercise physiology and competitive anxiety • Explain treatment rationale more clearly to patients, athletes and other clinicians • Build a specialist sports acupuncture service within your clinical practice

Why sports acupuncture can strengthen your clinic

Clinicians who specialise stand out. Sports injury patients are often highly motivated. They want to recover faster, move better, reduce pain, return to training, and understand what is causing the problem. By developing a specialist acupuncture approach for sports injuries and performance, you can: • Improve your confidence with complex MSK presentations • Offer a more complete sports injury service • Increase patient trust through clearer clinical reasoning • Improve patient retention through structured treatment plans • Build stronger referral pathways with active patients and athletes • Differentiate your clinic from general MSK providers • Add a specialist postgraduate certificate to your professional development portfolio This course is designed to help you become more than someone who “does acupuncture”. It helps you become a clinician who can apply acupuncture with purpose, structure and clinical reasoning.

About your tutor: Steve Bailey

Steve Bailey is an experienced clinician, educator and researcher in medical acupuncture, lower limb biomechanics and musculoskeletal (MSK) medicine, with a career spanning private practice, postgraduate teaching and healthcare CPD delivery. He holds an MSc in Acupuncture, lower limb biomechanics, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, as well as earlier postgraduate training in health science and podiatry. Steve leverages his expertise in both physiotherapy and podiatry to focus on the comprehensive management of lower limb disorders. Over the past 30 years, he has treated, coached and trained teams and individual athletes performing at national and international levels, including members of the British Judo Squad, Nottingham Forest Football Club, Coventry City Football Club, Sheffield United Football Club and Sheffield Wednesday Football Club. Steve has run a successful clinical practice in Nottingham delivering podiatry, physiotherapy and acupuncture, with a specialist focus on sports injuries, lower-limb biomechanics, low back and lower-limb disorders, and the use of acupuncture to support performance and recovery in athletes. As an educator, Steve is the founder of Steve Bailey Acupuncture CPD Training, providing online and face-to-face national and international training in medical acupuncture for healthcare professionals. He has also taught on postgraduate programmes at Coventry University and Nottingham University and previously delivered foundation and advanced acupuncture training for the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP). Steve’s teaching is strongly evidence-based and clinically applied, emphasising safe practice, clinical reasoning, point selection, needling technique, electroacupuncture, and outcome-driven treatment planning. He is widely published in sports and MSK acupuncture, including textbooks, systematic reviews and clinically focused research papers, and has delivered keynote and conference presentations on acupuncture and performance-related topics.

Practical workshop: 2026 and 2027

28-29th November 2026 26-27th June 2027 The practical workshop will help you bring the online learning into clinical application. During the workshop, you will have the opportunity to refine your assessment, point selection, needling technique and treatment planning under expert guidance. Places will be limited to ensure a high-quality learning environment, so early registration is recommended. Register Early for the Practical Workshop

Curriculum Overview

16 Chapters · 122 Lessons

  1. 1
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      How to navigate through the course

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Access the course on your tablet or mobile

  2. 2
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to Western Medical and TCM assessment and treatment of MSK disorders

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      The Meridians and the Concept of Qi

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Aetiology of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Traditional Chinese Medicine

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment of Musculoskeletal Injuries

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      References

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Module Assessment

  3. 3
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to electroacupuncture

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to electroacupuncture

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to EA units for the management of MSK disorders

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      How to use an EA device

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Electroacupuncture to optimise wound healing

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to the healing process

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Effects of electroacupuncture in the management of inflammation

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Electroacupuncture in the management of fractures and bone healing

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Electroacupuncture in the management of tendinopathies

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Electroacupuncture to optimise tendon healing

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Copy of Aseesment

  4. 4
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Anatomy and function of the ankle joint

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Anatomy and function of the ankle joint short quiz

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Prevalance and nature of LAS

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Prevalence and nature of lateral ankle sprain short quiz

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Neuromuscular deficit following LAS

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment and diagnosis of LAS

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment and diagnosis of lateral ankle sprain short quiz

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for Lateral Ankle Sprain: Review of Literature

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to acupuncture and trigger point selection in the management of lateral ankle sprain

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture to reduce swelling enhance muscle strength and nerve regeneration

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture point selection in the management of lateral ankle sprain

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture Points Selection and Exercise for Lateral Ankle Sprain

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Patient Information for lateral ankle sprain

    14. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture point selection short quiz

  5. 5
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction and aetiology of cuboid syndrome

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Pathomechanics of cuboid syndrome

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Symptoms and diagnosis of cuboid syndrome

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment of the cuboid

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Differential diagnosis and treatment of cuboid syndrome

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Soft tissue massage in the management of cuboid syndrome

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Mobilisation techniques of the cuboid

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Mobilisation of the cuboid part 1

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Joint mobilisation of the cuboid part 2

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Cuboid syndrome case studies

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Cuboid syndrome: Acupuncture point selection

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      How to apply acupuncture in the management of cuboid syndrome

  6. 6
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Iliotibial Band Syndrome in Athletes

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture and Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) in Athletes

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Physiological effect of acupuncture on tendon healing

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Patient Information ITBS

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      ITBS Assessment

  7. 7
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture Modalities in Athletic Knee Disorders

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for Osgood

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for Patellar Tendinopathy

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Comparative Effectiveness and Synthesis

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Treatment Parameters and Practical Recommendations

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Patient Information Acupuncture for knee pain in sportsdocx

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for Knee Disorders Assessment

  8. 8
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture in the Treatment of Achilles and Patellar Tendinopathy: An Evidence-Based Review

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture Treatment Protocols for Achilles and Patellar Tendon Pathologies

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Patient Information acupuncture for tendinopathies

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for tendonopathies Assessment

  9. 9
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Treatment of non-union fracture of the fifth metatarsal with electroacupuncture

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture in the management of the 5th metatarsal

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment

  10. 10
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to the acupuncture and dry needling in the management of Achilles tendinopathy course

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Aetiology signs and symptoms of Achilles tendinopathy

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment and diagnosis of Achilles tendinopathy

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Palpation of the calf and Achilles tendon

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment of a ruptured Achilles tendon

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Eccentric loading exercises for AT

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      How to do eccentric laoding exercise for Achilles tendinopathy

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture and dry needling in the management of Achilles tendinopathy

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      How to dry needle the Achilles tendon

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Dry needling and acupuncture for Achilles tendinopathy

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      How to apply soft tissue manipulation to the calf and Achilles tendon

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      The VISA-A questionnaire- An index of the severity of Achilles tendinopathy

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment

  11. 11
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Heel Pain and Plantar Fasciopathy in Athletes

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Epidemiology, symptoms and functunction of the intrinsic foot muscles

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment and diagnosis of plantar fasciitis

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Examination of the intrinsic muscle and heel part 1

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Examination of the intrinsic foot muscles part 2

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Assessment of the back to determine referred pain to the heel

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture in the management of heel pain

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Massage and ischenic compression in the management of heel pain

    9. (Included in full purchase)

      Manual acupuncture in the management of heel pain

    10. (Included in full purchase)

      Plantar fasciitis treatment protocol

    11. (Included in full purchase)

      Heel pain foot stretching and strengthening exercises

    12. (Included in full purchase)

      Clinical protocol for short foot exercise

    13. (Included in full purchase)

      Patient information sheet short foot exercise

    14. (Included in full purchase)

      Short foot exercises for plantar fasciitis

    15. (Included in full purchase)

      Plantar Fasciitis Assessment

  12. 12
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to Acupuncture Modalities in the Management of Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS)

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Manual Acupuncture for MTSS

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Electroacupuncture for MTSS

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Laser Acupuncture for MTSS

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Auricular Acupuncture for MTSS

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Comparison of Modalities and Conventional Treatment

    7. (Included in full purchase)

      Patient Information Sheet MTSS

    8. (Included in full purchase)

      Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome Assessment

  13. 13
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Introduction to acupuncture to enhance performance in athletes

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of Acupuncture on Physiological Response to Exercise: A Systematic Review

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture protocol to improve exercise

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Effects of on oxygen uptake and heart rate

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of Acupuncture on Exercise Physiology Assessment

  14. 14
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of acupuncture on muscle strength

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      The effect of manual and EA on lower limb muscle strength

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      The Underlying Mechanism of Acupuncture on Enhancing Muscle Strength

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture protocol to enhance muscle strength

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of acupuncture on enhancing muscle strength

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture to Enhance Muscle Strength Assessment

  15. 15
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of acupuncture on reducing DOMS: A preliminary study

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of acupuncture on DOMS following eccentric loading exercises

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in Athletes

    4. (Included in full purchase)

      DOMS treatment protocol

    5. (Included in full purchase)

      Effects of acupuncture on DOMS

    6. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of Acupuncture on DOMS Assessment

  16. 16
    1. (Included in full purchase)

      Effect of Acupuncture in the Management of Competitive Anxiety: A Systematic Review

    2. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture protocol for competitive anxiety

    3. (Included in full purchase)

      Acupuncture for competitive anxiety assessment

Frequently asked questions

Do I need previous acupuncture experience? This course is best suited to clinicians who already have a foundation understanding of acupuncture, dry needling or medical needling. If you are completely new to acupuncture, the Foundation in Medical Acupuncture and Dry Needling may be the best starting point before progressing to this postgraduate certificate. Is this course suitable for podiatrists? Yes. The course is highly relevant to podiatrists treating lower limb, foot, ankle, heel pain, Achilles tendon, plantar fasciitis, MTSS and running-related injuries. Is this course suitable for physiotherapists and sports therapists? Yes. The course is ideal for physiotherapists and sports therapists who work with MSK conditions, sports injuries, exercise rehabilitation, return to sport and performance-focused patients. Does the course include electroacupuncture? Yes. The course includes electroacupuncture modules covering MSK disorders, inflammation, tissue healing, tendinopathy and clinical application. Does the course cover performance enhancement? Yes. The course includes modules on DOMS, muscle strength, physiological response to exercise and competitive anxiety. The focus is on evidence-informed clinical application and realistic integration into sports medicine practice. Will I learn treatment protocols? Yes. The course includes treatment protocols, clinical reasoning frameworks, patient information sheets and assessment resources for a range of sports injury and performance-related presentations. Is the course online or practical? The course includes comprehensive online learning and a practical workshop.  Can I use the techniques immediately in clinic? You should only use techniques that are within your professional scope of practice, training level and insurance cover. The course is designed to improve clinical reasoning, safety and confidence so that you can integrate acupuncture appropriately into patient care. How much does the course cost? The current payment option is a £100 first payment, followed by 3 monthly payments of £100. Are places limited? Yes. Practical workshop places are limited to maintain teaching quality and allow appropriate supervision.

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