There was a time when only junkies, pierced addicts, and lunatics voluntarily stuck loads of needles into their bodies. Not anymore. Acupuncture, the traditional art of needle therapy, has become so popular that it has almost become a conventional form of medicine, with people regularly using it to quit smoking, relieve muscle pain, and even treat infertility.
As former family physician Harry Hall put it on the Quackwatch website: “Studies of acupuncture have shown that it doesn’t matter where you put the needles. Or whether you use needles or just pretend to use them (as long as the subject believes you used them). .
In fact, on the TV show Sex and the City, Charlotte went to an acupuncturist when she couldn’t get pregnant, but it didn’t work. However, she worked like a charm for an acquaintance of hers, an aging socialite named Bitsy von Muffling, who married a gay man and became pregnant after a few sessions with acupuncturist Dr. Mao, aptly named . By Jupiter, it’s a miracle!
However, a recent US study of 600 patients said that acupuncture is no better than sticking toothpicks into the skin, at least when it comes to helping back pain. Published in the respected Archives of Internal Medicine, the study incorporated a control group that sneakily obtained toothpicks instead of needles, which didn’t actually pierce the skin. Surprisingly, the chopsticks worked just as well as the needles.
Their verdict: Whether or not acupuncture works for you is really all in the mind, and they conclude that this applies to this “ancient Chinese technique” practiced to help cure other ailments as well, not just back pain. But if it’s all mind over matter, and yet it has positive results, who really cares?
What is acupuncture?
Acupuncture dates back thousands of years, although its exact origins are not entirely clear. It’s a rather strange form of healing where needles are inserted into the body’s pressure points, sometimes called acupuncture points, to relieve whatever ails you.
There are many different types of acupuncture, and each doctor practices it differently. Some people believe in acupuncture points on the hands and feet, others focus on the ears. Others use just about every part of the body (well, not every part, thank goodness). Some rely on plain old needles, others use lasers and even tiny magnetic beads, or BBs. Sometimes pressure points are worked without the help of needles.
Acupuncture points are believed to exist along the meridians of what the ancient Chinese called our qi, or where energy naturally flows in our body. Stimulating them is supposed to have specific beneficial effects, and a trained acupuncturist can identify areas to treat specific complaints.
Does it really work?
It’s not clear why acupuncture is considered relatively mainstream these days, especially when scientific evidence is so hard to prove, as is the case with most procedures (it’s much easier to prove efficacy or actual medicine than a technique). While some people believe the positive results are largely placebo effects, others say acupuncture actually works for specific problems.
In 2003, the World Health Organization published a study on acupuncture, stating that it had approved 20 diseases, symptoms or conditions that acupuncture can treat, such as hay fever, depression, facial pain, headache, hypertension, low back pain, morning sickness and renal colic. , rheumatoid arthritis, sciatica, sprain, stroke and tennis elbow.
It also listed diseases, symptoms, or conditions “for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been demonstrated but for which more evidence is needed,” and a shorter list “for which there are only single controlled trials reporting some therapeutic effects, but for whom acupuncture is worth trying because treatment with conventional and other therapies is difficult.”
Here are some of the more common ailments that acupuncture claims to treat:
Sterility. Perhaps the most interesting use of acupuncture in recent years has been as a way to treat infertility. Although it didn’t work for Charlotte (see above), dozens of women use it (the World Health Organization says more research is needed). The Berkeley Center for Reproductive Wellness has said that acupuncture is most effective when combined with herbal medicine and traditional medical intervention. Draw your own conclusions from that!
weightloss. A multi-target approach here. Needles are inserted for a variety of reasons, to release feel-good endorphins, to stop cravings, perhaps to help with pituitary gland function. It also claims to help with a general decrease in appetite.
Give up smoking. Patients receive treatment at acupuncture points on the ears and body several times a week to reduce cravings and calm the nervous system. Silver granules are sometimes used to stimulate acupuncture points between treatments to maintain beneficial effects. It is said that smokers often quit two or three times before quitting for good. Could this be one of those occasions?
Anxiety. It is supposed to work as it can promote deep relaxation, allowing both mind and body to heal together. He addresses kidney and heart imbalances, which are thought to cause anxiety, and sometimes uses auricular acupuncture or ear acupuncture to achieve good results.
Bread. It claims to be able to help with pain in some patients as a result of conditions such as fibromyalgia, sickle cell anemia, chronic neck pain, and even shingles. Sometimes the needles are heated or a low electrical charge is sent through them before they are used.
play it safe
Acupuncture is a widely misunderstood form of alternative therapy that may or may not work for you. Some people say it’s a life-saving art, others say any claim that it has any health benefits is dubious at best. As former family physician Harry Hall put it on the Quackwatch website: “Studies of acupuncture have shown that it doesn’t matter where you put the needles. Or whether you use needles or just pretend to use them (as long as the subject believes you used them). .
“Many acupuncture researchers are doing what I call Tooth Fairy science: measuring how much money is left under the pillow without bothering to ask if the Tooth Fairy is real.”
Please note that there are some risks as poorly performed acupuncture can lead to serious health problems such as fainting, bruising, lung puncture, etc. If you want to try acupuncture for yourself and see if it works for you, be sure to only visit a qualified acupuncturist who practices in a safe, sterile environment using only disposable needles. Happy drilling!
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