Acupuncture—Pain Relief or Quackery?

ACUPUNCTURE—PAIN RELIEF OR QUACKERY

Acupuncture is a procedure that involves inserting very thin needles into the skin at precise points on your body. The insertion spots are chosen based on a complex network of energy lines called meridians, which are thought to encircle the body. Acupuncture is a key component of traditional Chinese medicine that clears these energy channels to restore and maintain health.

In contrast, Western medicine often considers acupuncture as pseudoscience because its practices are not based on scientific knowledge and is sometimes considered quackery.

Scientific evidence has been mixed, partly because it is difficult to devise a form of sham acupuncture—placing needles in locations not associated with traditional treatment points—for comparison. For example, for back pain sham acupuncture works just as well as real acupuncture which may be due in part to a placebo effect.

Just the same, acupuncture as a form of alternative medicine, is gaining acceptance as a tool to treat pain and overall wellness including stress management.  At Mayo Clinic, for instance, “acupuncture specialists integrate their care with the care provided by other doctors to blend the best of conventional treatments and integrative practices.”  To give you more information, here are excerpts from the March 3, 2020 Mayo Clinic online article Acupuncture:

Traditional Chinese medicine explains acupuncture as a technique for balancing the flow of energy or life force — known as chi or qi (chee) — believed to flow through pathways (meridians) in your body. By inserting needles into specific points along these meridians,  practitioners believe that your energy flow will re-balance.

Many Western practitioners, in contrast, view the acupuncture points as places to stimulate nerves, muscles and connective tissue. Some believe that this stimulation boosts your body’s natural painkillers.

Why it’s done

Acupuncture is used mainly to relieve discomfort associated with a variety of diseases and conditions, including:

• Chemotherapy-induced and postoperative nausea and vomiting
• Dental pain
• Headaches, including tension headaches and migraines
• Labor pain
• Low back pain
• Neck pain
• Osteoarthritis
• Menstrual cramps
• Respiratory disorders, such as allergic rhinitis

Risks

Risks are low if you have a competent, certified acupuncture practitioner using sterile needles. Common side effects include soreness and minor bleeding or bruising where the needles were inserted. Single-use, disposable needles are now the practice standard, so the risk of infection is minimal. Not everyone is a good candidate for acupuncture. You may be at risk of complications if you have a bleeding disorder, have a pacemaker or are pregnant.

Choosing a practitioner

No special preparation is required before treatment. If you’re considering acupuncture, take the same steps you would to choose a doctor:

• Ask people you trust for recommendations.
• Check the practitioner’s training and credentials. Most states require that nonphysician acupuncturists pass an exam conducted by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
• Interview the practitioner. Ask what’s involved in the treatment, how likely it is to help your condition and how much it will cost.
• Find out whether your insurance covers the treatment.

Tell your doctor you’re considering acupuncture. He or she may be able to tell you about the success rate of using acupuncture for your condition or recommend a practitioner.

Acupuncture treatment

During treatment, your acupuncturist inserts very thin needles into specific spots on your body. Insertion of the needles usually causes little discomfort.

Each person who performs acupuncture has a unique style, often blending aspects of Eastern and Western approaches to medicine. To determine the type of  treatment that will help you the most, your practitioner may ask you about your symptoms, behaviors and lifestyle. He or she may also closely examine:

• The parts of your body that are painful
• The shape, coating and color of your tongue
• The color of your face
• The strength, rhythm and quality of the pulse in your wrist

This initial evaluation and treatment may take up to 60 minutes. Subsequent appointments usually take about a half-hour. A common treatment plan for a single complaint would typically involve one or two treatments a week. The number of treatments will depend on the condition being treated and its severity. In general, it’s common to receive six to eight treatments.

During the procedure

Acupuncture points are situated in all areas of the body. Sometimes the appropriate points are far removed from the area of your pain. Your  practitioner will tell you the general site of the planned treatment and whether you need to remove any clothing. A gown, towel or sheet will be provided. You lie on a padded table for the treatment, which involves:

• Needle insertion.Acupuncture needles are inserted to various depths at strategic points on your body. The needles are very thin, so insertion usually causes little discomfort. People often don’t feel them inserted at all. Between five and 20 needles are used in a typical treatment. You may feel a mild aching sensation when a needle reaches the correct depth.
• Needle manipulation.Your practitioner may gently move or twirl the needles after placement or apply heat or mild electrical pulses to the needles.
• Needle removal.In most cases, the needles remain in place for 10 to 20 minutes while you lie still and relax. There is usually no discomfort when the needles are removed.

Results

Some people feel relaxed and others feel energized after an acupuncture treatment. But not everyone responds to acupuncture. If your symptoms don’t begin to improve within a few weeks, acupuncture may not be right for you. I, for instance, had several acupuncture treatments for lower back pain I’d developed from running.  However, it didn’t help.  (In the end, performing yoga regularly “cured” my back.)

The benefits are sometimes difficult to measure, but many people find it helpful as a means to control a variety of painful conditions.

Several studies, however, indicate that some types of simulated acupuncture appear to work just as well as real acupuncture. There’s also evidence that acupuncture works best in people who expect it to work.

Acupuncture has few side effects, so it may be worth a try if you’re having trouble controlling pain with more-conventional methods.