Acupuncture for chronic pain

A huge review of acupuncture trials, numbering nearly 18,000 patients, has concluded that acupuncture is effective for chronic pain. The researchers found true acupuncture to be better than sham acupuncture, and also concluded that acupuncture is definitely more than a placebo.  

Those reviewing the available randomised controlled trials, included patients with back and neck pain, chronic headache, osteoarthritis, and shoulder pain.  Evidence indicated acupuncture's effectiveness for these chronic conditions and also implied that other factors in addition to needling contributed to the improvement. One can only speculate as to what these might be:

As an acupuncturist, I wonder if the length of time spent with each patient played a part in their improvement, allowing the practitioner time to listen to the patient, examine them carefully at each treatment, and give appropriate lifestyle recommendations and reassurance, as well as adjusting each treatment to suit the patient.

You can look at the review here.

To return to my Acupuncture in Bristol and Shaftesbury website, and look at evidence for acupuncture and chronic pain, and other conditions, click here.