A British study suggests acupuncture can help relieve lower back pain:
“A British study suggests people suffering from low back pain may get at least some added relief from acupuncture compared with standard treatments.
Hugh MacPherson, study co-author and research director of the Foundation for Traditional Chinese Medicine in York, England, says the trial was aimed at evaluating both the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of acupuncture.
Based on the findings, MacPherson says it would be worthwhile for publicly funded health-care systems to pay for the treatment. “Our recommendation is that routine acupuncture should be provided as an option. Not everybody wants it, but it should be there as an option because there is patient demand.”
The study involved 241 adults who had been suffering from low back pain for four to 52 weeks. They were randomly assigned to have up to 10 acupuncture sessions over three months, or the usual treatment recommended by their doctor.
Both groups reported similar levels of pain at the beginning of the study and after one year, but after two years, the acupuncture recipients reported slightly less pain on average. Twenty-one of them reported being free of back pain during the previous year, compared with only four in the usual-care group.
People who had received acupuncture were also more likely to report not having needed medication to treat their back pain compared with patients receiving usual care: 68 versus 20, respectively. ”
DAAN has two licensed acupuncturists. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, let us know and we can schedule a treatment or evaluation. DAAN accepts most insurance plans.
