Acupuncture... Did I get it wrong?

I've always been a supported of Holistic Medicine and was always a proponent of Acupuncture. After all, just a decade ago it was never covered by insurance, and people were paying thousands to get it done with great relief.But then I read an analysis from a study in Germany that came out in 2007. The analysis studied over 30,00 college students and yielded worrisome results.. The certain "spots" where a needle goes for acupuncture was given to one group, while another group was randomly poked. Princeton caught on to this first major analysis and yielded that Acupuncture was successful, but for one reason; placebo. They claimed that it was due to a fascination with eastern medicine and a trust in efficiency that made it seem so successful.I have held this unfortunate view since I read about it, but the tide has turned. An article in 2009 by The New England Journal seems to produce some promising data on acupuncture. While this article is actually the one that made me question acupuncture in the first place, my pain management doctor told me to re-read it and re-conceptualize. To sum up what Berman et al. said, it is effective, be it placebo or not, though he didn't use the word. 

However, since extensive clinical trials have suggested that acupuncture may be more effective than usual care, it is not unreasonable to consider acupuncture before or together with conventional treatments, such as physical therapy, pain medication, and exercise. Many pain specialists incorporate acupuncture into a multidisciplinary approach to the management of chronic low back pain.

As noted above, the most recent well-powered clinical trials of acupuncture for chronic low back pain showed that sham acupuncture was as effective as real acupuncture. The simplest explanation of such findings is that the specific therapeutic effects of acupuncture, if present, are small, whereas its clinically relevant benefits are mostly attributable to contextual and psychosocial factors, such as patients’ beliefs and expectations, attention from the acupuncturist, and highly focused, spatially directed attention on the part of the patient. These studies also seem to indicate that needles do not need to stimulate the traditionally identified acupuncture points or actually penetrate the skin to produce the anticipated effect.

So, we have seen data from Harvard, Stanford, Yale, M.D. Anderson, and so many praising acupuncture. We have data to show that Acupuncture, done so correctly or done so in a sham way, has helped millions across the globe. It is covered by insurance as Preventative Care. Is it just a sham? A glorified Western concept that makes us placebo ourselves? Maybe so. But who is to say Placebo doesn't work? Or who is to say the mechanisms that sticking these little needles in our body does not work in some way, albeit totally different than what was thought?Think of this. Norco, also known as Vicodin or simply Hydrocodone was tested against Tylenol 3 with Codeine. Tylenol 3 has 30mg of Codeine, an opiate, which equals more or less 3mg of a Norco. Yet a few years ago, had you gone to the ER, you would easily walk out with a script and get Norco 10mgs, over three times the strength. Yet studies have indicated in acute ER settings where someone is injured, Tylenol 3 with Codeine is just as effective. Summary: Maybe we are placeboing ourselves in ways we never thought. Maybe we are glorifying techniques that may not be so effective yet under-glorifying those that can be. Regardless, let's leave the efficiency of Acupuncture alone. Mind over matter. If the shoe fits, wear it. I have seen an influx of doctor's shamming Acupuncture as a sham, but it is a holistic technique that works! I know so many people who have urged me to get it done.So I am tomorrow. I will not be biased. Yes, we have this report out of Germany that, while saying Sham Acupuncture works just as well, it is of great benefit. And yes, we have to infamous pharma lover Dr. Gorski scolding it with all his might. But if it works, why worry? It is certainly worth giving it is a try and to undermine the empirical data that sham or not it has shown to decrease migraines, anxiety, back problems, etc., is just not right because it is an awesome therapeutic technique that never hurt anyone.Time to put the negative perceptions of Acupuncture in the trash and just see for ourselves. Only we know our bodies. And that's a wrap!