Acupuncture is best against back pain

Patients report a significant improvement

Acupuncture - genuine or fake - is more effective in the treatment of back pain than conventional treatment approaches. Scientists at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum have shown that almost half of the patients treated experienced a relief of the pain. However, the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine also suggests that spurious acupuncture is almost as effective as the real one. In contrast, only a quarter of participants who were treated with medications and other conventional approaches felt better.

The team around Heinz Endres assumes that this is proven by the fact that the body reacts positively to every small needle stitch. It is also conceivable that acupuncture triggers a placebo effect. A theory assumes that the transmission of pain sensations to the brain can be interrupted by a new stimulus. Endres is convinced that acupuncture is a promising and effective way to treat chronic back pain. "The patients did not only reduce the intensity of the pain, but also reported that the physical limitations of the pain decreased and their quality of life rose again."

Acupuncture and back pain studies

The study included more than 1,100 patients sharing. They were either treated with conventional procedures, received a real or a fake acupuncture. In the case of fake acupuncture, the needles were cut less deeply than in the real ones. Furthermore they have not been used at those points which normally promise an effect. After six months, 47 percent of participants in the real acupuncture group reported a significant improvement in their pain symptoms. In the second acupuncture group, it was 44 percent. Only 27 percent of the third, conventionally treated group felt significantly better.

According to the BBC experts, 85 percent of the population suffer from back pain during their lifetime. The results of the the above study confirm the conclusions of investigations published in the British Medical Journal and many other publications. They all came to the conclusion that a short treatment with acupuncture actually helps against back pain.