US Pharm. 2007;32(10):93-94.
A German study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine claims that six months of acupuncture appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating low back pain. The study suggests that both sham acupuncture and traditional Chinese verum acupuncture appear to treat low back pain.
According to Michael Haake, PhD, MD, of the University of Regensburg, Bad Abbach, Germany, and colleagues, while acupuncture as treatment for lower back pain is still controversial, their study showed a 33% improvement in pain or a 12% improvement in functional ability. The authors concluded that "the superiority of both forms of acupuncture suggests a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain generation, transmission of pain signals or processing of pain signals by the central nervous system and that is stronger than the action mechanism of conventional therapy."
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