Could Acupuncture Relieve Your Chronic Lower Back Pain?

The Chinese and other Eastern cultures have been using acupuncture to restore, promote and maintain good health for about 2,500 years.

Now in the 21st century acupuncture is recognised by many health professionals in the West as a valuable treatment for a range of ailments.

Today we have some new research that indicates the effectiveness of acupuncture in relieving back pain.

Meta-thinking

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the US conducted a meta-analysis of 33 randomised, controlled trials that compared the effectiveness of acupuncture with sham acupuncture (placing needles at spots that generate no response), or no additional treatments, or other active therapies that treat lower back pain.

Data from the trials was grouped into categories such as acute pain relief, chronic pain relief and style of acupuncture. Each category was then analysed to assess diverse outcomes of pain, including functional abilities, overall improvement, return to work and painkiller use.

Noting that the quality and quantities of the trials varied, researchers found acupuncture to be significantly more effective than sham treatment or no additional treatment. Furthermore, acupuncture was found to be just as effective as other active therapies (read: pain killers) in relieving chronic lower back pain.

All in the head

The University of Maryland researchers focused their trial on lower back pain studies, so the data didnt include a remarkable acupuncture study from Harvard Medical School which is also in the US. In that study researchers investigated the bodys response to acupuncture with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which reveals changes in blood flow, as well as fluctuations in blood oxygen.

Manipulation of needles was performed on a specific acupuncture point on the hand in 13 healthy subjects. When fMRI was used before, during and after acupuncture treatments, clear changes in the imaging occurred in several different areas of the brain in 11 of the subjects.

These imaging changes indicated a decrease of blood flow, described by the researchers as a quieting down of the regions of the brain associated with pain, mood and cravings.

One of the researchers - Harvard Medical School radiologist Bruce Rosen - told the Associated Press (AP) that the regions of the brain affected in the test are particularly susceptible to a brain chemical called dopamine, which he describes as a reward chemical. Mr. Rosen speculates that when the blood flow is reduced, the resulting dopamine activity triggers the release of endorphins (chemicals that relieve pain).

As one neurobiologist pointed out to the AP, the next step should be a controlled study in which patients undergoing fMRI analysis would receive genuine acupuncture while another group of patients would receive stimulation of sham acupuncture points. Until then, this study provides an important step in understanding how the brain responds to acupuncture.

I will update you on any new findings in this area as soon as they come to hand.

If you try, certify

To my great relief - literally - I felt at most a very mild sensation from the acupuncture needles, and sometimes felt nothing at all. But my pain pretty much disappeared. When it was over, I wondered why I had waited so long to try it. After all, acupuncture is an ancient healing method. Treatments that dont work dont last for millennia.

So I can enthusiastically vouch for the relief that acupuncture can bring to neck and back pain. And I have a friend who successfully overcame insomnia through acupuncture. Weve both found that it relieves stress as well.

If youd like to try acupuncture for yourself, its very important to make sure you find a practitioner who is registered with either the British Medical Acupuncture Society, or the British Acupuncture Council. You can find a listing of certified acupuncturists on the website www.acupuncture.org.uk

Id be very interested to hear from any HSI members who have tried acupuncture - no matter what your experience may have been, good or bad.