Written by Patrick Massey, M.D., Ph.D. Clincial research has shown that acupuncture can help low back pain, no matter where the needles are placed.
Whenever we think of uses for acupuncture, low back pain comes to mind. The majority of clinical research has demonstrated that acupuncture can be beneficial for low back pain. What can be confusing is that pain relief seems to happen no matter where the needles are placed.
There are many different types of acupuncture. However for traditional Oriental medicine acupuncture, there are standardized points corresponding to a number of medical conditions, including low back pain. Some practitioners believe that they get even better results by individualizing needle placement for each patient. In contrast, a number of clinical studies have shown that even random placement of acupuncture needles results in measurable benefit for low back pain.
A recent study, in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine, compared the benefit to low back pain for individualized needle placement, standardized needle placement, random needle placement and usual medical care – consisting of medications, rest, etc. In the study, 630 adults with chronic low back pain were randomized to receive one of the four therapies.
Those receiving acupuncture had 10 treatments over seven weeks. Patients were measured based on level of dysfunction and whether symptoms such as pain or stiffness were bothersome. Patients were evaluated at the end of the study and also at 26 and 52 weeks after the study, to see whether results changed over time.
At the end of the study, those in the acupuncture groups improved significantly compared to those who received the usual care, in both level of dysfunction and symptoms. Interestingly, at the 52-week evaluation, those who had acupuncture also had significantly improved function but the symptoms were not statistically different from those who did not have acupuncture. In other words, although there were no significant differences in discomfort at one year, the acupuncture patients were less disabled.
The study is important for several reasons. One is that it demonstrated that the benefits of acupuncture persist beyond the time of therapy itself. The study also demonstrated that exact needle placement seems to be relatively unimportant.
From a Western medical view, this can be somewhat confusing, since we like to see cause and effect. If the needle is placed in a specific point, we want to see a specific result.
In Oriental medicine, acupuncture is used to balance energy flow. Balanced energy flow reduces pain and increases function. Modulating energy flow at any point along the pathway can result in improvement throughout the entire system.
Despite the confusion over needle placement, the bottom line is that acupuncture works better than usual medical care – probably for less money and with fewer side effects. It does not work for everyone but for many people, it is worth a try.
Posted July 14, 2009.
