Even Fake Acupuncture Best for Back Pain

Acupuncture has a far better success rate than other treatments for patients with chronic lower back pain,  and fake acupuncture is nearly as effective as the real thing, a new study has found. Normal medical treatment produced significant improvement in 24% of people, while 47% of acupuncture patients felt better, as did 44% of those who got a sham version of the procedure.

In the fake procedures, needles were inserted only shallowly and weren't placed in any of the traditional pressure points. Acupuncture also reduced the number of pain pills sufferers took: only 15% of those getting traditional acupuncture needed extra medication while 59% of people getting conventional therapy needed extra painkillers. (More acupuncture stories.)