Acupuncture Shown Effective for Reducing Chronic Neck Pain
A study published in Annals of Internal Medicine (September 2024) examined the effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic neck pain. The study included 716 adults who were randomly assigned to one of four groups. One group was placed on a waiting list. Two groups received acupuncture, with either higher or lower sensitivity acupoints. The fourth group received sham acupuncture. The acupuncture groups received 10 sessions over four weeks. Pain levels were measured on a scale of zero to 100. Participants were tracked every four weeks for 24 weeks to assess the long-term effects of treatment. The mean baseline pain level for all participants was about 50. Participants in the high- and low-sensitivity acupuncture groups had the greatest pain reduction (12 and 10, respectively). The effect persisted for 24 weeks. Pain reductions in the sham acupuncture and waiting list groups were 6 and 2, respectively.
