Acupuncture reduces pain of chronic low back discomfort

(HealthDay)—Individualized acupuncture treatment reduces some negative symptoms of chronic low back pain (cLBP) better than sham treatment, according to a study published in the April issue of Spine.

Yu-Jeong Cho , K.M.D., from Kyung Hee University in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and colleagues randomized 130 patients to receive either individualized real acupuncture treatments or sham acupuncture treatments for more than six weeks (twice a week) from Korean medicine doctors. Patients had nonspecific LBP lasting for at least last three months prior to the trial.

The researchers found that from the 116 patients who completed the three- and six-month follow-ups, the only baseline difference between the groups was Oswestry Disability Index scores. At eight weeks, there was a significant difference in visual analogue scale (VAS) score for bothersomeness and pain intensity score of cLBP between the groups, but both scores improved significantly until the three-month follow-up. Both groups also saw similar improvements in Oswestry Disability Index, the Beck Depression Inventory, and Short Form-36 scores.

"This randomized sham-controlled trial suggests that acupuncture treatment shows better effect on the reduction of the bothersomeness and pain intensity than sham control in participants with cLBP," the authors write.