Acupuncture treatment appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating low back pain, a new study proves.

Low back pain is a common, impairing and disabling condition, often long-term, and often a cause of work problems and sick days. Acupuncture is increasingly used as an alternative therapy.

Acupuncture is an ancient Oriental therapy that aims to improve the overall wellbeing of the patient, rather than treating specific symptoms in isolation. Traditional Chinese philosophy states that our health is dependent on the body's energy - known as Qi - moving in a smooth and balanced way through a series of channels beneath the skin.

For any number of reasons, Qi may become unbalanced and lead to illness. By inserting fine needles into the channels of energy, an acupuncturist can stimulate the body's own healing response and help restore its natural balance. Acupuncture is one of the most popular forms of complementary treatments performed in the UK, with over 3,000 practitioners. Many patients swear by its effectiveness in treating conditions such as lower back pain, but its value as a treatment is still controversial among medical professionals.

Now, a large German study has examined 1,162 patients who had experienced chronic low back pain for an average of eight years. Patients each underwent ten 30-minute sessions of either traditional Chinese verum acupuncture, sham acupuncture or conventional therapy. In verum acupuncture, the needle depth was 5 millimetres to 40 millimetres, while sham acupuncture consists of inserting needles only slightly, 1 millimetre to 3 millimetres into the lower back. Conventional therapy consisted of a combination of medication, physical therapy and exercise.

After six months, 48% of the verum acupuncture group and 44% percent in the sham acupuncture group had experienced a significant improvement in pain and their ability to move their backs. But only 27% of the conventional therapy group experienced any improvement at all. Furthermore, the positive results lasted long after the completion of the acupuncture treatment, but disappeared almost immediately after the conventional therapy ended.

The researchers believe that the results prove that acupuncture gives doctors a promising and effective treatment option for chronic low back pain, with few negative side effects.

Acupuncture treatment can also have a positive effect on those trying for a baby and can actually aid the conception process, recent research reveals. To read more, Click Here.