A man complaining of chest and back pains was found to have an acupuncture needle that had been lodged in his gut for 40 years.

Xu Long, 60, from the city of Jiujiang in south-eastern China's Jiangxi Province, had been treated with acupuncture while serving in the military in 1974 to cure stomach ache.

He said: 'The only time I ever had acupuncture was while in the army.

'I recall I had an ongoing stomach ache at the time which hurt for two days and two nights.

'The army doctor offered to perform acupuncture on me and it worked. The pain stopped immediately.'

But Xu now believes that one of the needles had actually broken in half.

Xu said: 'At first, I didn't feel anything, my stomach pain had gone and all was good.

'But over the years I began to feel increasing discomfort in my back and in my chest.

'Every time I went to a doctor they said it was just old age.'

Eventually the pain became so bad doctors decided to X-ray him, The Daily Mail reports.

Xu said: 'They told me there was a foreign body in my stomach and I just panicked thinking it was cancer.

'You can imagine my shock and relief when they told me it was the acupuncture needle.'

Doctor Ye Lin, who carried out the surgery to remove the 3cm-long needle, said: 'It was really quite a surprise for all of us.

'The needle which was stuck in his intestines had turned black and was very thick because of decades of oxidation.'

The doctors added that the needle had probably been working its way through the man's body as he moved, pushing it slowly to different positions before finally being identified 40 years later.

Xu said: 'Luckily, it's now out and my pains have completely gone. And I don't have cancer so I'm a winner all round.'