Current Evidence

Lower Back Pain:

• A course of up to 10 acupuncture treatments over a 12 week period is recommended for the treatment of lower back pain (*NICE guidelines 2009)

Tension-Type headaches:

• A course of up to 10 acupuncture treatments over a 5-8 week period is recommended for the treatment of chronic tension-type headaches (*NICE guidelines 2012)

Osteo-arthritis:

• Acupuncture reduces pain and improves physical function in knee and hip osteoarthritis (Manheimer et al 2010; Acupuncture for peripheral joint osteo arthritis - a Cochrane review)

Insomnia:

• Acupuncture has been shown to increase sleep duration in patients with insomnia (Kaicun Zhao 2013)
• A combination of medication and acupuncture is more effective in treating insomnia than medication alone (Kaicun Zhao 2013)

* NICE guidelines are guidelines set out by the Royal College of General practitioners (GP's) based on a systematic review of randomised controlled trials