In March 2014, The Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA, published perhaps the best evidence to date on the effectiveness of acupuncture for pain. The research study was authored by Andrew J. Vickers and Klaus Linde, MD. The authors compared real acupuncture to sham acupuncture and a placebo group. They concluded in their bottom line:
“Acupuncture is associated with improved pain outcomes compared with sham-acupuncture and no-acupuncture control, with response rates of approximately 30% for no acupuncture, 42.5% for sham acupuncture, and 50% for acupuncture.”
Previous studies on acupuncture and pain control left some researchers and scientists still skeptical. The data from this clinical trial combined with a major systematic review, funded by the National Institutes of Health, NIH, published in 2013, should finally put the skepticism about acupuncture to rest. Any scientist who reads the research with an open mind will have to conclude that acupuncture is effective for pain. This is clinical evidence at its best.
If your doctor or insurance company will not recommend acupuncture, just take a copy of the above studies to their office. Most likely, when they learn about the science, they will have a change of mind.
You can also share these links with your health care providers if they question the science or effectiveness of acupuncture:
Here is the link to the Journal of the American Medical Association’s website with information on the study on acupuncture: https://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1835483
Here is a link to the pubmed page that also catalogued the article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24595780
