Pain

Clinical research shows acupuncture can help with more than pain — it's also used for conditions like alcohol dependence, stroke recovery, and nausea. For pain specifically, studies point to benefits for headaches, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and low back pain.

Not all headaches are the same. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, different types of headache are diagnosed and treated differently — which is why an individual assessment matters.

Scientists have understood for over 20 years that acupuncture triggers the body's own pain-relieving endorphins, which helps explain why the effects can last well beyond the treatment itself.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends considering acupuncture as a treatment option for:

Acupuncture has been shown to help with several pain conditions, including back or neck pain, knee pain from osteoarthritis, and pain after surgery.

Further analysis of the available data from 20 studies of people with painful conditions (back pain, osteoarthritis, neck pain, or headaches) showed that the beneficial effects of acupuncture continued for a year after the end of treatment for all conditions except neck pain.

Acupuncture: An Evidence-Based Review of the Clinical Literature (thechifarm.com)