Can acupuncture help to relieve chronic neck pain?

The effectiveness of acupuncture can be influenced by many factors, such as the therapist's qualifications. There are also a number of different acupuncture techniques that vary, for example, in terms of where the needles are inserted. So good-quality studies are needed to be able to draw reliable conclusions about how effective acupuncture is.

A further challenge when doing studies on acupuncture is finding a suitable treatment to compare it with. One option is the use of fake acupuncture, where the needles are inserted into the wrong places, only inserted superficially, or not inserted into the skin at all.

Study participants who have fake acupuncture shouldn't know whether they are having real acupuncture or not.

This is done to make sure that the outcome of the study isn’t influenced by the effects of suggestion or assumptions about the results of a treatment.

A group of researchers commissioned by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality ( AHRQ) analyzed studies on the use of acupuncture to treat chronic neck pain. They found several studies, but the studies only involved a small number of participants and were mostly not very conclusive.

Recent studies compared certain acupuncture techniques with fake acupuncture. Those studies found that actual acupuncture didn't relieve the pain any better than fake acupuncture did.

Acupuncture can have side effects: Inserting the needles can result in minor bleeding or bruising. To avoid infection, it's important to use sterile disposable needles. The risk of serious side effects is low, though.

In Germany, some statutory health insurers cover the costs of acupuncture. But German statutory health insurers are not obliged to cover the costs of acupuncture for neck pain.