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Acupuncture needles inserted in a person's back

Acupuncture for joint pain: Does it work?

Apr 27, 2022 - McMaster University - 15 minutes

Acupuncture, a key component of traditional Chinese medicine, involves the insertion of very thin needles through your skin at strategic points on your body and is most commonly used to treat pain. In this video, Enoch Ho discusses how acupuncture is thought to work, the potential risks of treatment, and the research evidence to support the use of acupuncture to complement traditional approaches to pain relief treatment.

Learn the answers to the following questions:

1:30 - What is acupuncture and what does it do?
2:54 - Are there any risks to getting acupuncture treatment and who might be at risk of complications?
5:35 - How are practitioners certified and who performs it?
7:05 - What is the research evidence to support acupuncture as a possible pain relief treatment?
12:11 - What advice would you give a patient with chronic knee pain?

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Author Details

Anthony Levinson

Dr. Anthony J. Levinson is a Professor at McMaster University and holds the John R. Evans Chair in Health Sciences Educational Research and Instructional Development. One of the co-leaders of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal, Dr. Levinson is also a psychiatrist with a special interest in medical psychiatry and neuropsychiatry. His area of research interest includes online learning to improve healthcare provider and patient education.

Author Details

Enoch Ho

Enoch Ho received his education and training in Hong Kong. He immigrated to Canada in 1991 and since then he has been practicing both physiotherapy and acupuncture in Ontario. Currently, he is registered member in good standing in both the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario and College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario. He is heavily involved with education, teaching physiotherapy and acupuncture courses at McMaster. He supervises students from the School of Nursing, School of Physiotherapy and Labour Study Department at McMaster University in their research projects or clinical placements. Enoch’s research interests are very diverse, ranging from models of care, patient experiences and engagement, to application of acupuncture in various conditions like stroke, myofascial pain, and inflammatory bowel syndrome. He has authored several chapters in acupuncture textbooks and has presented and published his research findings in national and international conferences and journals. Enoch is practicing acupuncture and physiotherapy in Hamilton, Ontario.

References

McMaster Optimal Aging Portal. Painful knees? What about acupuncture? (2019 May 28). Accessed April 6, 2022. Available from: https://www.mcmasteroptimalaging.org/blog/detail/blog/2019/05/28/painful-knees-what-about-acupuncture
Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA, Lewith G, et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: Update of an individual patient data meta-analysis. Pain. 2018; 19(5):455-474.
Lin X, Huang K, Zhu G, et al. The effects of acupuncture on chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis: A meta-analysis. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2016; 98(18):1578-1586.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Acupuncture: In Depth. (2016 Jan). Accessed April 6, 2022. Available from: https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/acupuncture-in-depth
Patil S, Sen S, Bral M, Reddy S, Bradley KK, Cornett EM, Fox CJ, Kaye AD. The Role of Acupuncture in Pain Management. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2016 Apr;20(4):22.
Manheimer E, Cheng K, Linde K, Lao L, Yoo J, Wieland S, van der Windt DA, Berman BM, Bouter LM. Acupuncture for peripheral joint osteoarthritis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Jan 20;(1):CD001977.
Corbett MS, Rice SJ, Madurasinghe V, et al. Acupuncture and other physical treatments for the relief of pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee: Network meta-analysis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2013;21(9):1290–1298.
Chen N, Wang J, Mucelli A, et al. Electro-acupuncture is beneficial for knee osteoarthritis: the evidence from meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Am J Chin Med. 2017;45(5):965–985.
Woods B, Manca A, Weatherly H, et al. Cost-effectiveness of adjunct non-pharmacological interventions for osteoarthritis of the knee. PLoS One. 2017;12(3):e0172749.

Acknowledgements

This work is supported through the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging and funds provided by the Dean and Vice-President, Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University.

DISCLAIMER: These summaries are provided for informational purposes only. They are not a substitute for advice from your own health care professional. The summaries may be reproduced for not-for-profit educational purposes only. Any other uses must be approved by the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal (info@mcmasteroptimalaging.org).

Many of our Blog Posts were written before the COVID-19 pandemic and thus do not necessarily reflect the latest public health recommendations. While the content of new and old blogs identify activities that support optimal aging, it is important to defer to the most current public health recommendations. Some of the activities suggested within these blogs may need to be modified or avoided altogether to comply with changing public health recommendations. To view the latest updates from the Public Health Agency of Canada, please visit their website.

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