Acupuncture is an ancient practice that emerged from traditional Chinese medicine based on the belief that there are energy lines called meridians that cross the body, and that inserting needles in specific places along these meridians is useful to treat diseases. And although it is no longer as widespread as a hundred years ago, acupuncture remains a widespread practice worldwide. Incredibly, many people actually believe that inserting needles into the body can cure diseases.
Hundreds of thousands of people undergo this treatment every year in the world, hoping to relieve their ailments, and even many medical institutions provide it and recommend it as an alternative therapy, which, according to them, is effective in the treatment of several diseases.
But we have to be very clear with some points:
First, acupuncture is a pseudoscience (not even an alternative method to take into account), that is, its theory and practice are not based at all on scientific knowledge (other known pseudosciences are homeopathy, astrology, graphology, numerology, reiki, etc; with very little or no real efficiency at all).
This technique is based on the concept that our body is traversed by a series of energy channels, as I explained earlier, and is based on concepts such as yin and yang or chi energy, concepts that are more esoteric than scientific and that, evidently, do not really exist.
According to research conducted by the WHO (World Health Organization) and multiple organizations worldwide on the effects of acupuncture in the treatment of different deceases, the results are quite strong: "There is not enough scientific evidence", "has proven its inefficiency ", "scientific evidence does not endorse its use "... Not even for the treatment of the most basic muscle pain there are studies that can demonstrate the efficacy of acupuncture, in fact it is not more effective than a regular massage. And it is clear that inserting needles in supposed strategic points of the body has no effect on the cure of diseases.
The main defense posed by the defenders of this pseudoscience are the supposed benefits for our health, such as the reduction of pain, whether chronic type such as arthritis or osteoarthritis, or acute type such as headache, backaches, menstruation, or pain caused by injuries; promote circulation, free from stress or anxiety, avoid insomnia, among others.
The reality is that none of these supposed benefits goes beyond the placebo effect (pharmacologically inert substance or practice that is used as a control in a clinical trial. The placebo is capable of causing a positive psychological effect on certain sick individuals, if these do not know that they are receiving an inert substance (eg water, sugar) and that they believe it is a medicine, to the point that some studies have shown that it has more effect if the person who puts the needles is Asian instead of Caucasian or African, even when the latter have the same or better training.
But, why are there so many people who report feeling relieved after an acupuncture session? Why are there even prepared professionals who continue to affirm its benefits? Can acupuncture really relieve pain?
The answer to these questions is relatively easy to find and understand from a biological point of view:
If you have chronic or acute pain located in one part of the body and a needle is inserted in another, the brain becomes stunned and stops "paying attention" to the original site of pain. In some isolated cases, symptomatic relief of chronic pain has been seen, especially in the lower back, but still this relief has been independent of the application of the needles, or if an acupuncturist or just someone randomly applied them. In these cases, the relief occurs due to a discharge of a substance called adenosine, that relieves pain, just that, nothing related to meridians, energy or the mere insertion of needles.
One of the most widespread uses of acupuncture is the treatment of headaches, especially migraine. But do not be fooled, a review of more than twenty studies conducted by health organizations worldwide has concluded that it is only the placebo effect that makes patients believe that the pain has disappeared.
Acupuncture is one of the most studied alternative treatments from the scientific point of view. And the bottom line is that the benefit you get is the placebo. The efficacy of migraine prevention and treatment drugs is considerably greater than the use of acupuncture. So, if you suffer from migraine or any other ailment, instead of inserting needles that will not give you anything other than a waste of your time, better try a change of habits combined with good treatments prescribed by a qualified doctor.
And if in the biological and physical part the ineffectiveness of acupuncture is not clear enough, it is even less in the psychological one: Acupuncture cannot cure depression or stress because for this it is necessary that there is a change in the patient's way of thinking. Cognitive behavioral treatment is the only one based on scientific evidence capable of ending depression in the short and long term. Here, a change of life habits is also necessary to overcome these sufferings: do more sports, perform constructive activities, have an optimistic and/or positive attitude, spend quality time with loved ones, not be overwhelmed by work, etc.
It happens that many people require these deceptive methods motivated by despair, because they feel that with traditional treatments they are not getting improvement, and they decide to try with these others, which, it is worth clarifying, their practitioners show off their wide range of persuasion techniques and misinformation, presenting its methods as reliable and of “proven efficacy”, either by the number of patients who use them or by their supposed results, always in clear opposition to traditional medicine methods (in this, homeopathy and its supporters get the awards). Unfortunately, this is the case, and desperate patients end up being victims of these deceptive treatments that, and must be kept in mind, in addition to not having a real efficacy for afflicted people, they are still a business, and like every business, their main intention is profit.
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