Acupuncture may be beneficial for:
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Migraines / headaches
- Osteoarthritis / rheumatoid arthritis
- Stress
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Chronic Fatigue
- Pain Management
- Sinusitis
- Rhinitis
- General well being
For information about acupuncture and women's health, please read more on the Acupuncture and Women's Health page.
Acupuncture originates from China and has been practiced there for thousands of years. Acupuncture involves the insertion of very thin needles through the patient's skin at specific points on the body - the needles are inserted at various depths. Acupuncture points are located along meridians (energy pathways) through which chi runs. Acupuncture is sometimes combined with cupping and moxibustion (heat therapy).
Click here to read Alice's paper on Acupuncture.
References
Acupuncture for migraines / headaches:
* Sun Y, Gan TJ "Acupuncture for the management of chronic headache: a systematic review" Anesthesia & Analgesia 107 (6): 2038-47, 2013
* Diener HC et al. "Efficacy of acupuncture for the prophylaxis of migraine: a multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial" Lancet Neurology 2006; 5 310-16
* K Linde et al. “Acupuncture for patients with migraine; a randomized controlled trial”, Journal of the American Medical Association 2005, Vol. 293, no. 17, 2118-2125
* Streng A et al. “Effectiveness and tolerability of acupuncture compared with metoprolol in migraine prophylaxis”, Headache 2006, Vol. 46, no. 10: 1492-1502
Acupuncture and osteoarthritis / rheumatoid arthritis:
* Witts C et al. “Acupuncture in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized trial” Lancet 2005, Vol. 366, no. 9480: 136-143
* Scharf HP et al. “Acupuncture and knee osteoarthritis: a three-armed randomized trial” Annals of Internal Medicine 2006, Vol. 145, no. 1: 12-20
* Witts CM et al. “Acupuncture in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip: a randomized, controlled trial with an additional nonrandomized arm” 2006, Arthritis and Rheumatism, Vol. 54, no. 11: 3485-3493
Acupuncture for menopausal complaints:
* Borud EK et al. "The Acupuncture on Hot Flushes Among Menopausal Women (ACUFLASH) study, a randomized controlled trial" Menopause 16 (3): 484-93, 2009
* Huang MI et al. "A randomized controlled pilot study of acupuncture for postmenopausal hot flashes: effect on nocturnal hot flashes and sleep quality" Fertil Steril 2006 Sep; 86 (3) 700-10
* Bokmand S "Acupuncture relieves menopausal discomfort in breast cancer patients: A prospective, double blinded, randomized study" The Breast 2013, Vol.22 (3) 320-323
* Scheid V, Bensky D “Model Reaserch Project: Developing Chinese Medicine Treatment Protocol for Menopausal Syndrome” 1998 European Journal of Oriental Medicine, 2(6):32-40
Acupuncture for sleep disorders:
* Chen HY et al. "Auricular Acupuncture Treatment for Insomnia: A Systematic Review" The Journal of Complementary Medicine 2007 Vol. 13 (6)
* Sok-Sohyune R "Effects of acupuncture therapy on insomnia" 2003 Journal Adv Nurs; 44 375-84
* Sarris J "A systematic review of insomnia and complementary medicine" Sleep Medicine Reviews 2011, Vol.15 (2) 99-106
* Gooneratne NS "Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Sleep Disturbances in Older Adults" Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 2008, Vol.24 (1) 121-138
Acupuncture for stress, anxiety and depression:
* Frisk J et al. "Acupuncture improves health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) and sleep in women with breast cancer and hot flushes" 2011 on-line version (doi:10.1007/s00520-011-1134-8) Springer-Verlag
* MacPherson H et al. "Acupuncture and Counseling for Depression in Primary Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial" PLOS Medicine 10 (9): e1001518, 2013
* Zhang ZJ et al. “The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy in depressive disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis. J Affect Disord, Jul 24
Acupuncture for general well being and fatigue:
* Vickers AJ, Linde K "Acupuncture for chronic pain" JAMA 311 (9): 955-6, 2014
* Linde K et al. "The impact of patient expectations on outcome in four randomized controlled trials of acupuncture in patients with chronic pain" PAIN 2007, Vol.128 (3) 264-271
* Hughes JG “When I first started going I was going in on my knees, but I came out and I was skipping”: Exploring rheumatoid arthritis patients’ perceptions of receiving treatment with acupuncture, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, Oct-Dec 2009, Vol.17 (5):269-273
Acupuncture for sinusitis / rhinitis:
* Choi SM et al. "A multicenter, randomized, controlled trial testing the effects of acupuncture on allergic rhinitis" European Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 2013 Vol.68 (3) 365-374
* Brinkhaus B et al. "Acupuncture in patients with allergic rhinitis: a pragmatic randomized trial" Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 2008, Vol.101 (5) 535-543