is there any scientific evidence (not anecdotal) that acupuncture and acupressure work?

Answer 1

YES - there is plenty of evidence - but the point I'd add is that science - although wonderful - doesn't have all the answers! A few years ago, I was totally incapacitated by back pain and could hardly walk. After 20 minutes with needles in my back, I walked out of the clinic without a hint of pain. Anecdotal I know but proof enough that months of pain had been dealt with.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, it's always going to be difficult to get the requisite "scientific evidence" that holistic treatments like acupuncture are genuinely effective. You can't carry out tests using a control group being given a placebo treatment where things like acupuncture are concerned, because how would you do it? It's the same with things like massage; either you're being given a treatment or you aren't, there's no way to give you a dummy treatment.

With no randomised double-blind testing, the scientific results that people want aren't going to appear. All we're left with is anecdotal evidence. I've come to the conclusion that the only way to figure out once and for all whether something works is to try it yourself and see. If it works for you, that's great. It may or may not work for someone else, but that's true of everything from holistic therapies to prescription drugs.

Answer 3

Scientific evidence, which is usually qualitative is this case, is therefore based on anecdotal evidence.
It's still anecdotal but just gives it a 'legitimate' face.

I have had acupuncture for a painful back and I was cured in a matter of minutes after suffering for months. That's good enough for me. I couldn't care less about scientific evidence.

Answer 4

In many cases it depends on whom you ask.
This is what the NIH says:
According to the NIH Consensus Statement on Acupuncture, there have been many studies on acupuncture's potential usefulness, but results have been mixed because of complexities with study design and size, as well as difficulties with choosing and using placebos or sham acupuncture. However, promising results have emerged, showing efficacy of acupuncture, for example, in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations--such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low-back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma--in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. An NCCAM-funded study recently showed that acupuncture provides pain relief, improves function for people with osteoarthritis of the knee, and serves as an effective complement to standard care. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/

The FDA says acupuncture might work for fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, but says that the studies aren't very good.

The British Medical Association came to similar conclusions:
In conventional medicine the randomised controlled trial (RCT) is the ‘gold standard’ of evidence and hence there has been a call for the same standard to be used for unconventional medicine. The report examined the results of clinical trials of acupuncture use for a number of medical conditions, concluding that the evidence suggests that acupuncture is more effective that control interventions for back pain, nausea and vomiting (most convincingly for post-operative symptoms in adults), migraine and dental pain. So far, results are inconclusive or uncertain for neck pain and osteoarthritis, recovery from stroke, tension headaches, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, smoking cessation and weight loss.
http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Acupuncture%3A+efficacy%2C+safety+and+practice+%28m%29~Summary

The World Health Organization has a much longer list of conditions for which acupuncture is effective:
http://www.essentialhealthcare.com/info_for_practitioners/efficacy.html

You can do more research by checking PubMed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed

Answer 5

The Chinese have been using Acupuncture for several thousand years and the results to this day are excellent.

The Western Medical Profession used to poopoo it. But know they use it!

Had it lots of times with good results.

But only the Chinese REALLY know how to do it properly.

Answer 6

This is the defence used by doctors, who quote the General Medical Councils, who are funded by the drug companies (some of the richest companies in the world):

Oh it cant work becasue no proper clinical trials have been done - that is in itself a stupid argument its like saying 20 years ago that mobile phones will never be possible as they havent been proved.

The reality is clinical trials cost millions of dollars and the only people that can afford to do them are the drug companies. The drug companies only ever do trials on artificl drugs becasue thats where the money is. So noone ever pays for clinical trials on natural remedies

That doesnt however mean they dont work, as there are 10s of millions of people worldwide who have had lifechanging experiences through using them

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Answer 7

Yes there are scientific studies that support acupuncture effectiveness. Here is one link to a study of acupuncture and osteoarthritis of the knee:

http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2004/acu-osteo/pressrelease.htm

Answer 8

There is a substantial body of evidence supporting acupuncture which is one of the reasons why is it coming under common use in Western Medicine.

Answer 9

Your whole body is actually burning up a few calorie consumption, and workout forces you to shed them more quickly

Answer 10

Go walking regular 30 min's every day