A 2012 meta-analysis by a team of exceptionally skilled researchers, led by Andrew Vickers of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (New York) and published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, looked at 29 randomised controlled trials (of ‘only high quality’ according to the research team), involving 17,922 patients treated with acupuncture for chronic pain (that’s a lot of people, a lot of pain and a lot of needles). To cut a long story short, the researchers found that acupuncture was 15 to 20 per cent more effective than placebo. This is significant – to give you an idea, this is an effect of a similar order to commonly prescribed drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs, which are recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence [NICE]). The authors concluded that ‘Acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain and is therefore a reasonable referral option.’
The take-home message? If you have a problem that involves ongoing chronic pain – go and get some acupuncture. (See the original paper here http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1357513)