Acupuncture

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Acupuncture is a traditional drug-free treatment often used to reduce pain or inflammation. Acupuncture involves inserting fine needles in particular places to stimulate sensory nerves under the skin and in the muscles.[1]

Theory[edit | edit source]

Evidence[edit | edit source]

Kim et al. (2020) stated that:

"A systematic review also presented the limitations of acupuncture treatment due to the low quality of RCTs and the weak strength of evidence along with the weak potential to improve the symptoms of CFS/ME."[2]

ME/CFS[edit | edit source]

  • 2020, Auricular Acupuncture for Insomnia of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case Report[3] (Abstract)
  • 2020, Systematic review of randomized controlled trials for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)[2] - (Full text)
  • 2019, Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis[4] (Abstract)
  • 2018, Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis[5] - (Full text)

Costs and availability[edit | edit source]

Risks and safety[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Acupuncture". National Health Service. October 17, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Kim, Do-Young; Lee, Jin-Seok; Park, Samuel-Young; Kim, Soo-Jin; Son, Chang-Gue (January 6, 2020). "Systematic review of randomized controlled trials for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)". Journal of Translational Medicine. 18 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1186/s12967-019-02196-9. ISSN 1479-5876. PMC 6943902. PMID 31906979.
  3. Zhang, Feng; Shen, Yifeng; Li, Jie; Wang, Chao (May 5, 2020). "Auricular acupuncture for insomnia of chronic fatigue syndrome: a case report". Acupuncture in Medicine: 096452842092027. doi:10.1177/0964528420920279. ISSN 0964-5284.
  4. Zhang, Q; Gong, J; Dong, H; Xu, S; Wang, W; Huang, G (June 17, 2019). "Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis". Acupunct Med. doi:10.1136/acupmed-2017-011582.
  5. Vickers, Andrew J.; Vertosick, Emily A.; Lewith, George; MacPherson, Hugh; Foster, Nadine E.; Sherman, Karen J.; Irnich, Dominik; Witt, Claudia M.; Linde, Klaus (May 2018). "Acupuncture for chronic pain: update of an individual patient data meta-analysis". The journal of pain : official journal of the American Pain Society. 19 (5): 455–474. doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2017.11.005. ISSN 1526-5900. PMC 5927830. PMID 29198932.