Acupuncture for pain relief is a very effective treatment on its own and works well when added to other therapies.
Acupuncture increases endorphins, the body’s own pain-killing chemicals and endorphins are 200 times more potent than morphine. Acupuncture has also been shown to stimulate the production of adenosine, another painkiller your body manufactures naturally when you are injured.
Does acupuncture work for pain relief? YES!
Here is a list of 4 research studies which have looked into acupuncture’s ability to relieve pain and found positive outcomes
1. In October, 2024 JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) published results from a randomized clinical trial which found that patients suffering from chronic sciatica due to herniated discs benefited from acupuncture.
Patients who were treated with acupuncture had less pain and regained better functioning than those who received sham acupuncture. These positive outcomes lasted for a year!
2. In 2017, the world’s largest randomized controlled trial of acupuncture in emergency departments was done in Australia. This research found that acupuncture is a safe and effective as pain medicine for numerous conditions such as low back pain, migraines and sprained ankles. The acupuncture provided long-term relief for patients who came to emergency in considerable pain.
3. According to research published by the NIH (National Institutes of Health) in 2018 acupuncture can be more effective than NSAIDs for menstrual cramps (primary dysmenorrhoea). And, acupuncture has fewer side effects than traditional medications.
4. In 2012, JAMA ( Journal of the American Medical Association) reported on a huge meta-analysis of acupuncture studies. This review was led by Andrew Vickers. Ph.D., a researcher at the famous Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The researchers looked at data from 29 different randomized, controlled trials of acupuncture for chronic pain (a total of 17,922 patients), analyzed the results, and concluded that acupuncture was better at relieving pain than no treatment. They also checked whether people who thought they had acupuncture (but did not; they had a sham procedure) improved as well as acupuncture patients but they did not.
By stimulating these natural pain killers with acupuncture your body goes to work healing itself. In short, Acupuncture Rocks! If you are in pain, don’t wait. Try acupuncture now.
