Acupuncture and Fibromyalgia

Acupuncture has been around for centuries, and in the past few decades has gained in popularity for the treatment of various disorders, including fibromyalgia. But does it really work? I found evidence for and against. You be the judge.

Hauser and colleagues from Germany reviewed seven randomized trials of acupuncture performed upon patients suffering from fibromyalgia. Most of the study participants were white and middle-aged. The researchers found “strong evidence” that acupuncture was effective in relieving pain in fibromyalgia; however, results were too inconsistent to warrant their recommendation of acupuncture as a treatment for fibromyalgia. They also found that, for those who stated they got relief of pain from the acupuncture treatment, the relief of pain was short lived. Their findings were reported in Rheumatology in January of 2010.

In a study found in the Annals of Internal Medicine (2005), patients who received acupuncture as an adjunct to other treatments did not get any better relief than control subjects who were given “sham” acupuncture treatments (placement of needles in incorrect positions or needles that did not pierce the skin).

A recent 2010 Japanese study performed on 16 patients suffering from fibromyalgia suggests that acupuncture is effective as a means of pain relief for fibromyalgia patients.

There are many studies that can be found online, some for acupuncture and some against. There is also much anecdotal support from those who have tried acupuncture for pain relief to lend credence to the theory that acupuncture can relieve fibromyalgia pain. The bottom line? There are no studies that state that acupuncture is harmful, and some studies that find acupuncture helpful, so there is nothing to be lost in trying acupuncture, particularly if more traditional pain relief methods are ineffective.