Acupuncture is 'better at beating a bad back than conventional treatments'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:32 AM on 12th May 2009

If your back has been needling you for a while, it could be time for a trip to the acupuncturist, for experts have found that the ancient Chinese therapy can relieve a bad back better than anything else.

As many as 85 per cent of us are said to feel a twinge or two at some point in our lives. Back pain costs the NHS £500million a year. 

A study found that acupuncture, based on the theory that needles can release the body's vital energy, had a better success rate in relieving pain than conventional treatment.

For the research, hundreds of adults who suffered from chronic lower back pain were split into four groups.

One received an individual programme of acupuncture; one group standard therapy; a third group had a simulation of acupuncture using toothpicks; and the fourth group had the usual care.

After eight weeks, 60 per cent of those having some kind of acupuncture were much improved.

For those having conventional care, it was only 39 per cent. After a year, between 59 and 69 per cent of those treated with acupuncture reported improvements, compared to 50 per cent of those having usual care.

Researcher Dr Daniel Cherkin said all the varieties of acupuncture 'had beneficial and persisting effects on chronic back pain', when compared to usual treatment.

This makes acupuncture appear a promising option for chronic back pain, he explained.

'For clinicians and patients seeking a relatively safe and effective treatment for a condition for which conventional treatments are often ineffective, various methods of acupuncture point stimulation appear to be reasonable options.

'Furthermore, the reduction in long-term exposure to the potential adverse effects of medications is an important benefit.'

However, the findings do not establish whether the treatment actually helps heal or simply makes us think we feel better, said Dr Cherkin, of the Group Health Centre for Health Studies, in Seattle.

Recent studies have suggested that simulated acupuncture, or shallow needling, appears as effective as needles penetrating the skin.

There are several possible explanations, according to the study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Superficial stimulation of acupuncture points may directly stimulate physiological
processes that result in reduced pain and improved function.

Or the improvement may simply be down to the patients' belief that acupuncture will make them well.

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25th September 2007 In the Daily Mail and most leading nationals: Acupuncture 'provides twice the pain relief of standard medicine' By SIMON CABLE -

"Back pain afflicts between 70 and 85 per cent of the adult population at some point.   Acupuncture is twice as effective at reducing lower back pain than conventional medicines, according to researchers.

But pretend acupuncture, where the needles are inserted less deeply, has also been found to have a similar effect, suggesting that the pain relief could be psychological.

Back pain afflicts between 70 and 85 per cent of the adult population at some point in their lives and accounts for the loss of almost five million working days each year in the UK.

A trial of more than 1,162 people aged between 18 and 86 who had suffered from lower back pain for an average of eight years was carried out by German medics. They were divided into three groups, each of which was treated with either genuine acupuncture treatment, fake acupuncture or with drugs, pain-killers of physiotherapy.

After six months almost 48 per cent of those undergoing genuine treatment reported at least a one third improvement in their condition.

Just over 44 per cent of those on fake treatment said they felt a similar improvement, contrasted to only 27.4 per cent of those treated with traditional treatment.

The results of the trial, carried out by Michael Haake and a team of medics at the University of Regensburg have been published in medical journal, Archives of Internal Medicine.

"The superiority of both forms of acupuncture suggests a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain generation, transmission of pain signals or processing of pain signals by the central nervous system and that is stronger than the action mechanism of conventional therapy," said Mr Haake.

"Acupuncture gives physicians a promising and effective treatment option for those experiencing chronic lower back pain, with adverse effects or contradictions. "The improvements in all primary and secondary outcome measures were significant and lasted longer after completion of the treatment." It is the largest known study into the pain-relieving benefits of acupuncture to date.

In traditional acupuncture, 14 to 20 needles are inserted up to 1-1/2 inches deep at "meridians" and other prescribed locations until the patient is said to experience a numbing sensation. Previous trials have also shown the positive effects the treatment can have for treating other body pain, nausea and headaches.

It is encouraging for the huge numbers of people who suffer with back pain. Between 70 percent and 85 percent of people complain of the condition at some point in their lives, according to the study.

Another study has revealed that 4.9 million working days are currently lost each year as a result of lower back pain."