Article Published: 23rd Mar 2017
The NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) independent report Acupuncture for chronic pain and depression in primary care: a programme of research offers further support for the effectiveness of acupuncture in many physio treated conditions.
The researchers, led by Professor Hugh MacPherson used systematic processes to combine and interpret data from high-quality clinical trials of acupuncture involving approximately 18,000 patients. The types of pain investigated in these trials were neck and lower back pain, osteoarthritis of the knee, headache and migraine. They found acupuncture to be more than simply a placebo as it was more effective than sham acupuncture. Acupuncture was also found to be better than standard medical care for all of these chronic pain conditions. In another analysis, they compared acupuncture with other physical therapies for osteoarthritis of the knee and found acupuncture to be one of the more clinically effective therapies and, when based on high-quality trial evidence, also cost-effective.
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