A ‘gold standard’ clinical trial compared acupuncture with ‘sham acupuncture’ in patients with sciatica from a herniated disk and found the ancient practice is effective in reducing leg pain and improving measures of disability, with the benefits persisting for at least a year after treatment.
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/acupuncture-alleviates-pain-in-patients-with-sciatica-from-a-herniated-disk
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I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2825064
From the linked article:
A ‘gold standard’ clinical trial in China compared acupuncture with ‘sham acupuncture’ in 216 patients with sciatica from a herniated disk and found the ancient practice is effective in reducing leg pain and improving measures of disability, with the benefits persisting for at least a year after treatment. Around half the participants received genuine acupuncture while the other half had acupuncture needles inserted at points on the body which are considered to have no effect. Acupuncture can alleviate pain and improve function among patients with chronic sciatica from a herniated disk and should be considered as a potential treatment option, the authors conclude.
I don’t believe in chi or anything like that, but I’ve always found studies that compare poking needles in spots in line with those beliefs and poking needs at other spots to be an interesting choice when trying to create a placebo control group. I do think there is some kind of central nervous system stimulation or interaction going on when you poke needles into the skin that can have interesting relaxation and other effects, I’m just not convinced that the points specified and followed in acupuncture are really that relevant so I’m not surprised when studies find no difference. This one says it does find a difference but all the data is behind the usual academic paywall.
My husband is a perfect example of this. He was injured during his service in the military. He was paralyzed from the waist down for 6 months and couldn’t walk. His therapy included both Western medicine, physical therapy and acupuncture. He swears acupuncture helped him the most and helped him regain his ability to walk again. He still suffers from debilitating pain from time to time. But, he has avoided surgery and periodically going to his acupuncturist has kept him mobile.
Not to be pedantic, but I typically think of a “gold standard” study to be a double-blinded study. But with any physical intervention, you can’t double-blind the study. So, I’m not sure how this is a “gold standard”. Its probably the best they could do
I’m not sure why it works for me and my dad but it does and I’ll take it. Dad had major back problems that left him bedridden for a month and Western medicine wasn’t working. He hated needles but tried acupuncture in desperation. He hobbled in slowly and walked out much recovered.
Personally I was having major upper back and neck pain to the point it was almost debilitating to moving and sleep. The difference walking out was almost as dramatic. Don’t have any idea of why it works, whether it’s somehow just in my head, but it has worked for me whenever I’ve had chronic pains like that. As a bonus I generally fall asleep on the table and lose all track of time.
there were many similar trials showing negative results. One of 20 will get a P-value < 0.05.
So poking people randomly with needles is slightly less effective than poking people less randomly?
My experience, and take this as a person who doesn’t really understand how acupuncture works and the therapist I went to never explained anything, was that acupuncture did nothing for me. No differences in pain levels or mobility. I went for neck issues. They pretty much put needles in my feet, legs and arms, maybe one in my neck near where the pain was but not always. There was no electrical stim involved or anything. I would lay there for 20 minutes with the needles and that was about it. Is that how it’s supposed to work?
it actually worked for me when i had a herniated disk. just saying.
Don’t studies about Chinese medicine from China always give positive results?
Most of the authors work for acupuncture departments/clinics.
I’m also not sure why we have so many authorsÂ
“Gold standard” clinical trial form China on acupuncture? Where you have to toe the literal party line on traditional Chinese medicine? No, thank you.