Acupuncture Beats Conventional Therapy for Back Pain
Acupuncture, the Chinese medical treatment based on the circulation of life energy, called chi, proved itself to be twice as effective in reducing chronic back pain as the conventional treatment, in a German study reported in the September 2007 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
The study involved 1162 patients who had a history of chronic back pain a mean of 8 years. Patients were divided into three groups. One group received standard 30-minute acupuncture sessions twice a week for 5 weeks. Another group underwent sham acupuncture sessions of the same length and duration. A third group had conventional therapy of drugs, physical therapy and exercise.
After six months, 48 percent in the acupuncture group reported a dramatic decrease in pain, more than double the number in the conventional therapy group. Interestingly, 44 percent of the patients in the sham acupuncture group also reported very positive results. The sham acupuncture patients got needles placed in their skin, but not in the specific locations normally used by practitioners. So the question is:, Is the pain relief of acupuncture a placebo effect, or do the needles impact the nervous system, no matter where they are placed?
Meanwhile, if you suffer from chronic back pain, acupuncture may have a positive and long-lasting impact on your quality of life.
