A large and high quality research project recently showed acupuncture can decrease osteoarthritis knee pain by an average of 40% and improve joint function similarly, over and above usual care with medications¹.

Drs. Terry Selfe and Anne Taylor of the Center for the Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies (U of Virginia) reviewed the scientific research published in English journals.  They included randomized, controlled experiments studying the effects of acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis. Ten trials representing 1456 participants met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed.  They concluded that these studies provide evidence that acupuncture is an effective treatment for pain and physical dysfunction associated with osteoarthritis of the knee².

Read more about acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis

References:

1. Effectiveness of Acupuncture as Adjunctive Therapy in Osteoarthritis of the Knee; RCT (2004). Berman, B.M. et al. Annals of Intern Med. 141-12; pp 901-11.
2. Family and Community Health, 2008, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 247-254).

Acupuncture can also lesson pain associated with…

• Shoulder dysfunction
• Tennis Elbow
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• TMJ
• Fibromyalgia
• Cancer

References:

• Single-point acupuncture and physiotherapy for the treatment of painful shoulder:a multicentre RCT (2008). Vas, J. et al. Rheumatology. 47:pp 887–93 12Acupuncture for the alleviation of lateral  epicondyle pain: a systematic review (2004). Rheumatology. 43: pp 1085–90.
• Acupuncture in Patients With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: RCT (2009). Clin J Pain. 25-4; pp 327-33. 14The efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of temporomandibular joint myofascial pain: RCT (2007). J Dentistry. 35; pp 259-67.
• Electroacupuncture in fibromyalgia: results of a controlled trial (1995). Deluze, C. et al. BMJ; 305- 6864; pp1249-52.
• 6The Value of Acupuncture in Cancer Care (2008). Lu, W. et al. Hematol Oncol Clin N Am 22; 631–48.