Acupuncture Efficacy: There Is No Simple Answer

It has been quite a long time since I posted anything, so I am happy to be back on Patch.

Because I have often heard others ask about this, I would like to share an interesting email exchange my business partner and acupuncturist Pam Chang, LAc, recently had with a medical doctor friend about acupuncture efficacy:

Q: I'm trying to figure out a way to assess how well individual people are responding to acupuncture in one of my work settings.

I know people receive acupuncture for a large range of problems, not only for pain. Whatever the presenting problem/symptom, is the acupuncture treatment seen as something that goes on forever? Or do some people get better, have the problem pretty much resolve, and then be able to stop acupuncture without symptoms recurring? 

Can you recommend any good articles, books, or links? 

Thanks for any light you can shed.

Best,
J.

A: J, Thank you for your note. Re: acupuncture efficacy—there is no simple answer.

My experience is that for acute conditions—infections, sprains, etc., acupuncture is often good immediately and can be long-lasting. But this varies a lot from person to person and incident to incident.
 
Chronic conditions typically take a long time—but not always. In the past week, I've had someone tell me that her doctor told her that her shoulder pain wouldn't go away and she would just have to keep icing it forever but acupuncture has helped immediately.... she wished she'd started acupuncture two years ago. Another lady with chronic insomnia told me that after two treatments, she was sleeping through the night, something she hadn't done in years. For these people, I would recommend that they start decreasing treatment frequency in hope that they would eventually "graduate" from acupuncture, or only come in for seasonal tune-ups.

And then there are the people with constantly stressful lives. These are the folks who use acupuncture just to make it through the week, week after week.
We keep a couple of useful books on the subject in our clinic: Why Did You Put That Needle There? by Andy Wegman of Manchester Acupuncture Studio, Manchester NH, and Acupuncture is Like Noodles by Lisa Rohleder, Working Class Acupuncture, Portland, OR. You can also visit the People's Organization of Community Acupuncture (POCA) website for more info on acupuncture.

If you are trying to find a way of assessing how people are responding to acupuncture, I think you should just ask them. Some people love it; some people think it's useless. Some people make appointments because it's the only way they will fit regular naptime into their schedules.

Until recently, most people in the US have not been able to afford enough acupuncture to learn what frequent and regular treatments can do for them. Happily, this is changing now that more and more affordable, accessible, community acupuncture clinics are opening all over North America and other countries.

Hope this helps,

-Pam

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To celebrate Albany Local Week, my community clinic is offering $10 acupuncture sessions Sept. 22-28, so this is a great opportunity to experience the effects of acupuncture for yourself (you do not have to be an Albany resident!). If you are looking for affordable community acupuncture elsewhere, check out this handy clinic locator.

What has been your experience with acupuncture efficacy? Tell us in the comments.