In an article published in the journal Best Practice & Research Clinical Anaesthesiology, the authors found that acupuncture helps to reduce pain in patients with migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, neck pain, and lower back pain. ~ Dr. Broussard
Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2020 Sep;34(3):603-616. doi: 10.1016/j.bpa.2020.08.005. Epub 2020 Aug 8, 2020
Megha Patel
PMID: 33004170 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpa.2020.08.005
Abstract
Acupuncture is a practice based on traditional Chinese medicine, in which needles are used to restore the body’s internal balance. Recently, there has been growing interest in the use of acupuncture for various pain conditions. Acupuncture’s efficacy in five pain conditions-low back pain (LBP), migraines, fibromyalgia, neck pain, and abdominal pain-was evaluated in this evidence-based, comprehensive review. Based on the most recent evidence, migraine and fibromyalgia are two conditions with the most favorable outcomes after acupuncture. At the same time, abdominal pain has the least evidence for the use of acupuncture. Acupuncture is efficacious for reducing pain in patients with LBP, and for short-term pain relief for those with neck pain. Further research needs to be done to evaluate acupuncture’s efficacy in these conditions, especially for abdominal pain, as many of the current studies have a risk of bias due to lack of blinding and small sample size.
Keywords: abdominal pain; acupuncture; fibromyalgia; low back pain; migraine; neck pain.
Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.