Does acupuncture analgesia really work?
Research performed in animals and humans shows that specific acupuncture relieved pain while sham acupuncture (needles at acupoint regions) had no pain relieving effect. Several controlled clinical trials on chronic pain patients comparing real acupuncture to sham acupuncture have also shown that acupuncture really works better than a placebo. Perhaps more importantly, when acupuncture was compared to conventional treatment of chronic pain it was found to be just as effective with fewer side effects.
