2021 Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Acupuncture appears to have an effect on diabetic peripheral neuropathy, effectively improving nerve conduction and clinical symptoms.
Acupuncture for Chronic Pain
Chronic pain imposes a substantial burden on individuals and society which is as great as other more publicised health priorities such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
Studies have found that as many as 1 in 5 adults are affected by chronic pain which persists for more than 6 months. Due to limited conventional medical care options beyond symptomatic pain relief, one third of those who live with chronic pain conditions may not be seeking and receiving treatment at all.
What is our clinical experience?
Based on feedback collected from over 558 initial appointments for Chronic Pain, Nerve Pain & Fibromyalgia, 80% of our surveyed patients reported improved quality of life after their first 5 appointments. See our detailed benchmarking statistics.
InitialConsults
558
AverageAppointments
5
ImprovedQuality of Life
80%
Refer Family &Friends
93%
What does the research say?
The following insights are obtained from systematic reviews and analysis of clinical trials investigating the efficacy of Chinese medicine and acupuncture for chronic pain.
Summary of Recent Research
Recent research provides compelling evidence supporting the efficacy of Chinese medicine, particularly acupuncture, in the treatment of various chronic pain conditions. A 2022 study in the Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics found that a six-week course of acupuncture was as effective as six months of conventional drug prophylaxis in treating migraines, highlighting the potential for acupuncture to be integrated into current migraine therapy protocols. Similarly, a randomized controlled trial published in Neurology the same year demonstrated that true acupuncture significantly reduced the frequency of chronic tension-type headaches over an eight-week period. These studies suggest that acupuncture, with its minimal side effects, could be a viable alternative to traditional pharmacological treatments for chronic headache conditions.
Further investigations into acupuncture's broader applications reveal its benefits for other chronic pain conditions as well, such as knee osteoarthritis and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. For instance, a systematic review in BioMed Research International (2022) concluded that acupuncture not only reduced pain but also improved functional activities in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Moreover, research in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics (2021) showed that acupuncture effectively improved nerve conduction and clinical symptoms in patients suffering from diabetic peripheral neuropathy. These findings underscore acupuncture's role as a safe and effective alternative to standard medical treatments for reducing pain and enhancing the quality of life in patients with chronic pain conditions, urging further validation through rigorous clinical trials to fully establish its therapeutic potential.
2020 Pain Research & Management
Acupuncture reduced more headache days and the times of using painkiller and was more effective in reducing the frequency and degree of headache than western medicine and sham acupuncture.
2019 Arthritis Research & Therapy
Strong electroacupuncture for at least two weeks improves chronic pain management in knee osteoarthritis patients better than weak or sham electroacupuncture.
2019 Acupuncture in Medicine
Acupuncture, regardless of the trial design, showed a positive effect on pain-related outcome measures for participants with diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
2019 Headache
There is growing evidence that acupuncture is just as effective and has fewer side effects than many of the standard pharmaceutical agents that are currently used.
2018 Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
There is potential of acupuncture combined with conventional treatment for treating female chronic pelvic pain.
2017 Pain Physician
The existing evidence suggests that most acupuncture therapies, including acupuncture combined with other therapies, are effective in decreasing pain and in improving physical function.
2017 Pain
Patients with chronic pain can generally be reassured that treatment effects persist after a course of treatment with acupuncture.
2016 Neural Regeneration Research
A 14-session course of needling at Fengchi is relatively safe for treating posterior circulation ischemia with vertigo.
2015 Neurology
The majority of trials demonstrate a positive effect of acupuncture over control condition in the treatment of neuropathy.
Seek personalised healthcare and advice
Although well-conducted clinical research can help members of the public to make better-informed decisions about their healthcare, we cannot claim that any particular treatment may be effective for any individual person.
When you consult with our Chinese medicine practitioners, you’ll receive personalised advice and treatment based on your symptoms and Chinese medicine diagnosis.
Research papers
Browse our collection of scientific clinical research on acupuncture for chronic pain.
It includes recent and reputable papers published by peer-reviewed journals within the last 10 years.
2021, Jan 28
Acupuncture treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy: An overview of systematic reviews
Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics
Acupuncture appears to have an effect on DPN, effectively improving nerve conduction and clinical symptoms. Although the methodological quality of the included studies was generally very low and defects were frequent, our study highlights areas where improvement in methodology is required. There is a need for further study of the pathogenesis of DPN, and for developing a unified standard for methods of acupuncture treatment, acupoint selection, and adverse reactions reporting. Traditional Chinese medical practices such as acupuncture should adopt an evidence-based approach to provide greater confidence in their use.
Yu B, Li M, Huang H, Ma S, Huang K, Zhong Z, Yu S, Zhang L. Full Article
2020, Mar 23
Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Migraine: An Overview of Systematic Reviews
Pain Research & Management
We found high quality of evidence indicated that the effective rate of acupuncture was superior to western medicine in treatment of migraine. Besides, acupuncture reduced more headache days and the times of using painkiller and was more effective in reducing the frequency and degree of headache than western medicine and sham acupuncture. Based on high quality of evidence, we concluded that acupuncture may be an effective and safe therapy for migraine.
Li YX, Xiao XL, Zhong DL, Luo LJ, Yang H, Zhou J, He MX, Shi LH, Li J, Zheng H, Jin RJ Full Article
2019, May 14
Effects of intensity of electroacupuncture on chronic pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial
Arthritis Research & Therapy
Electroacupuncture should be administered for at least 2 weeks to exert a clinically important effect on improving conditioned pain modulation function of knee osteoarthritis patients. Strong electroacupuncture is better than weak or sham electroacupuncture in alleviating pain intensity and inhibiting chronic pain.
Lv, Z., Shen, L., Zhu, B. et al. Full Article
2019, Feb 22
Acupuncture for the treatment of lower limb diabetic peripheral neuropathy: a systematic review
Acupuncture in Medicine British Medical Acupuncture Society
Acupuncture for DPN appears to improve symptoms. However, the application of acupuncture varies greatly, and the quality of included studies was generally low. Available studies have varying methodologies and different outcome measures. Further, suitably powered studies using appropriate DPN outcome measures are required.
Nash J, Armour M, Penkala S Full Article
2019, Dec 24
Systematic Review: Acupuncture vs Standard Pharmacological Therapy for Migraine Prevention
Headache American Headache Society
This systematic review of randomised controlled trials articles showed that acupuncture is just as effective for treating migraine. It also has fewer side effects than many of the standard modern pharmaceutical agents. Patients also reported to use less pharmacological drugs after treatments.
Niushen Zhang, Tim Houle, Nada Hindiyeh, & Sheena K. Aurora Full Article
2018, Sept 27
Acupuncture Treatment for Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The results of our review and meta-analysis suggest the effectiveness of AT combined with CT for treating women with CPP compared to use of CT alone. However, current evidence is insufficient to verify the efficacy of AT for CPP because of the small number of RCTs and low methodological quality and heterogeneity of interventions. Therefore, larger, more rigorous and adequately powered multicentre RCTs are needed to provide clinical guidelines for AT in treating female CPP patients.
Sung SH, Sung ADM, Sung HK, An TEB, Kim KH, Park JK Full Article
2017, Sept 20
Acupuncture for Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Network Meta-Analysis of 33 Randomized Controlled Trials
Pain Physician American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians
Scraping combined with warming acupuncture and moxibustion was found to be effective for decreasing pain intensity. Existing evidence suggests that most acupuncture therapies are effective in decreasing pain and in improving physical function.
Li X, Wang R, Xing X, Shi X, Tian J, Zhang J, Ge L, Zhang J, Li L, Yang K. Full Article
2017, May
The persistence of the effects of acupuncture after a course of treatment: a meta-analysis of patients with chronic pain
Pain International Association for the Study of Pain
The effects of a course of acupuncture treatment for patients with chronic pain do not seem to decrease importantly over 12 months. Patients can generally be reassured that treatment effects persist. Studies of the cost-effectiveness of acupuncture should take our findings into account when considering the time horizon of acupuncture effects. Further research should measure longer term outcomes of acupuncture.
MacPherson, H; Vertosick, E.A; Foster, N.E; Lewith, G; Linde, K; Sherman, K.J; Witt, C.M; Vickers, A.J Full Article
2016, Sept 6
Safety of different acupuncture manipulations for posterior circulation ischemia with vertigo
Neural Regeneration Research
Our results indicate that a 14-session course of needling at Fengchi is relatively safe for treating posterior circulation ischemia with vertigo.
Wen Y, Zhang C, Zhao Xf, Deng Sz, He S, Huang Lh, Tian G, Meng Zh Full Article
2015, May 8
Effects of Acupuncture on Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Neurology American Academy of Neurology
The majority of trials demonstrate a positive effect of acupuncture over control condition in the treatment of neuropathy. Further more rigorously designed studies are needed to better characterize this effect.
Alexandra Dimitrova, Charles Murchison, Barry Oken Full Article
It is by virtue of the twelve channels that human life exists, that disease arises, that human beings can be treated and illness cured. The twelve channels are where beginners start and masters end.