Acupuncture for Treatment of Low Back Pain
This is a traditional Chinese technique datings back thousands of years, which involves inserting and manipulating needles into "acupuncture points" on the body.
It is based on the theory that health is determined by a balanced flow of energy that is present in all living things.
Acupuncture has been used to treat medical conditions from the common cold to sciatica and chronic low back pain.
Just a Complementary Medicine ?!
At present, accupuncture comes under the heading of complementary or alternative medicine and is not normally available in hospitals in the US or Europe, although it is often practised alongside conventional medicine in China.
Interestingly, more than 15% of American and European physicians practise acupuncture.
Whilst placebos can result in a lessening or elimination of discomfort it is still hard to determine in what areas accupuncture is actually effective.
Clinical investigators have tested chronic patients and found that they often have lower-than-normal levels of endorphins in their spinal fluid. Investigations of acupuncture include wiring the needles to stimulate nerve endings electrically (electroacupuncture), which some researchers believe activates endorphin systems.
Other experiments with acupuncture have shown that there are higher levels of endorphins in cerebrospinal fluid following acupuncture.
Investigators are studying the effect of stress on the experience of chronic pain. Chemists are synthesizing new analgesics and discovering painkilling virtues in drugs not normally prescribed for pain.
Research & Low Back Pain
The latest studies are comparing different health care approaches to the management of acute low back pain (standard care versus chiropractic, acupuncture, or massage therapy). These studies are measuring symptom relief, restoration of function, and patient satisfaction.
In particular a study in 2006 stated that for low back pain:-
... for chronic low-back pain, results show that acupuncture is more effective for pain relief than no treatment or sham treatment, in measurements taken up to three months."
"Acupuncture is not more effective than other conventional and "alternative" treatments. When acupuncture is added to other conventional therapies, it relieves pain and improves function better than the conventional therapies alone."
There has been several clinical trials into the effectiveness of accupuncture, some have found efficacy for headache, low back pain and nausea.
Despite his own sceptisism, Doctor John Longhurst, ( http://www.dana.org/pdf/cerebrum/art_v3n4longhurst.pdf) a cardiologist, has found evidence that it not only works to relieve pain, but is a possible treatment for cardiovascular disease. 
Electric stimulation
This can be used on the needles that pass through the leg to provide an even greater amount of stimulation. However, for problems such as sciatica, use of pressure points on the lower back or leg.
Ear acupunctura - with as many as two hundred acupuncture points on the outer ear, treatment for sciatica or low back pain, treating the sciatic acupoint could help reduce or alleviate pain.
Does Acupuncture work ?
Whilst some people have concluded that acupuncture does not work for back pain, it would seem that it varies from person to person, and can be effective for people who, for whatever reason, are unable to try conventional treatment.
It may be effective for problems such as spinal stenosis, sciatica and discomfort in low back, thigh area, neck and possibly for a herniated disc .
Always take medical advice before trying alternative methods to treat your problem.
Further Information
Relief & Treatment - conventional and alternative ways to treat sciatica and chronic pian.
Native Remedies - natural treatments that work with your body
This photograph was produced by Agência Brasil, a public Brazilian news agency
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