Acupuncture treatment /fotosearch.com
If being stuck with needles to get relief from pain sounds counterintuitive, some experts may agree with you. According to a study published in a recent issue of the British Medical Journal, acupuncture offers only limited relief when used to treat pain.
The Danish researchers based their report on data from 13 studies involving more than 3,000 patients in which acupuncture was used to treat painful conditions, including migraine, osteoarthritis, low back pain, and post-surgical pain.
In the review, use of real acupuncture, sham (placebo) acupuncture, and no acupuncture was evaluated. Compared to sham acupuncture, real acupuncture provided about 4 millimeters of relief. Based on a 100-millimeter pain scoring scale, a 10-millimeter change is minimal, while 4 millimeters rates even less.
Overall, the researchers noted that although acupuncture provided some relief, it lacked ‘clinical relevance’ and could be attributed to bias.
Catherine Niemiec, a licensed acupuncturist and president of the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture in Phoenix, commented on the study. “I am concerned that the people putting together the study did not fully understand how Asian medicine works, and that the study was poorly constructed, or did not fully take into account the variances in training of the acupuncturist, selection and manipulation of points, and the intent of the practitioner. It also contradicts the vast amount of evidence that acupuncture indeed does help relieve pain.”
For example, a review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine involved 33 randomized, controlled trials in which acupuncture was used for chronic low back pain. The investigators concluded that acupuncture provided effective relief.
The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) conducted a national survey and found that nearly 10 percent of adults in the United States had tried acupuncture. Eighty-two percent of those questioned were extremely, very, or somewhat satisfied with the treatment. Only 8 percent were not satisfied at all.
To learn more about acupuncture, you can contact any of the acupuncture centers or schools in the area. The Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture has a community clinic that provides reduced-rate treatments administered by pre-graduate student interns under professional supervision. Other acupuncture centers include the Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine Center in Phoenix and the Arizona School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Tucson.
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