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What do you think about acupuncture for the treatment of low back pain?
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Opinions about the effectiveness of any treatment approach should be based on best practice and current evidence. As such, evidence-based medicine requires periodic review of published studies to see what's new on various topics and treatment modalities.
In the area of acupuncture for low back pain, an updated systematic review is now available. Six new trials were included in this systematic review. These six were published in the last two years since the previous systematic review was performed.
There were many more studies done (1,606 with 40 of them random controlled trials), but they had to be high-quality to qualify as acceptable evidence. Only the six included were considered high enough quality to be selected.
There was moderate evidence that acupuncture was better than no treatment. At the same time, sham acupuncture worked just as well as true acupuncture. Sham acupuncture means the needles were not placed at true acupuncture points, they were only inserted a little way into the skin, and they were not stimulated (moved or twisted) like true acupuncture needles would be.
There was moderate evidence that acupuncture was effective for short-term relief of pain. Relief of pain was directly linked with improved function, so it was inferred that acupuncture also improved function. There was conflicting evidence for pain relief over a longer (intermediate) amount of time.
Even though there are still many questions to be answered, as a result of this updated systematic review, the European Guidelines for nonspecific back pain will now include acupuncture as an effective treatment for chronic low back pain. There is enough evidence that acupuncture is cost effective when compared with other treatments.
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*Disclaimer:*The information contained herein is compiled from a variety of sources. It may not be complete or timely. It does not cover all diseases, physical conditions, ailments or treatments. The information should NOT be used in place of visit with your healthcare provider, nor should you disregard the advice of your health care provider because of any information you read in this topic. |
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