New Studies Just Released About Acupuncture

So many of my patients ask me how acupuncture works. I often find it difficult to answer this question from a research-based, western diagnostic viewpoint as fitting traditional Chinese medicine into the paradigm of western medicine and its scientifically-based research is the same of fitting the proverbial square peg into a round hole. It just doesn’t work.

However, there are a few studies that have been conducted, most of them in Europe, which does document the efficacy and acupuncture. One Swedish study showed that acupuncture helped relieve pelvic pain for pregnant women, a common problem for women world wide.

A German study consisting of more than 3,600 adults who had hip and knee arthritis pain showed that acupuncture was able to provide pain relief during treatment and at three and six months intervals after treatment. Based on the results of the study, Germany is now considering adding acupuncture to its standard coverage in its health system.

A study conducted in this country by the National Center for Contemporary and Alternative Medicine confirmed the use of acupuncture as an adjunctive treatment for the treatment of arthritis.

Another study performed in this country showed acupuncture to be effective in treating overactive bladders. The study was published in Obstretics and Gynecology. The study concluded that four weekly treatments showed significant improvement in bladder control, frequency of urination and urgency.