What Does the Resarch Say?

People often ask, “But does acupuncture actually work?”

It’s a fair question. You want to know that what you’re choosing has some support behind it, not just good intentions and nice needles.

The short answer: yes, there is growing research showing that acupuncture can help with several common types of pain and some related symptoms like stress and poor sleep.

A large analysis that combined data from almost 18,000 people with chronic pain found that acupuncture worked better than both no treatment and “sham” or placebo-style acupuncture for back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, headaches, and shoulder pain.¹ That tells us acupuncture is doing more than just creating a nice relaxing experience (though that part can be helpful, too).

For chronic low back pain, which many people come in with, studies have found that acupuncture can improve both pain and daily function compared with usual care alone. In older adults, adding acupuncture to their regular medical care led to better long-term improvement in back pain–related disability than usual care by itself.²

There’s also research for migraine and headaches. In several trials, people who received a course of acupuncture had fewer migraine days than those who received sham acupuncture or just usual care. The effects often lasted beyond the treatment period.³ For many, that means fewer days lost to pain and more room for normal life.

Acupuncture is also being studied for musculoskeletal pain (like neck, shoulder, or knee pain), some kinds of cancer-related pain, and pain linked with mood issues like depression. Reviews of multiple studies suggest that acupuncture can reduce pain levels and, in some cases, also ease related symptoms such as low mood and poor sleep.⁴

Official agencies have taken notice as well. The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (part of the NIH) notes that acupuncture has good evidence for helping chronic low-back pain, neck pain, knee osteoarthritis, and certain types of headaches, and that it is generally safe when performed by a trained practitioner.⁵

Of course, research looks at groups of people, not at you as a unique person. In the treatment room, what I care about is how you respond: your pain levels, your sleep, your mood, your ability to move and enjoy your life. I use the research as a helpful background, and then we tailor the actual treatment to your body, your history, and your goals.

Acupuncture isn’t a magic cure or a one-size-fits-all answer. But both experience and research suggest it can be a very useful tool for reducing pain, calming the nervous system, and supporting your body’s natural healing process—especially when you give it a little time and consistency.

If you’re curious whether this might be helpful for your specific situation, we can talk it through and see if it feels like a good fit for you.

References (for the research-inclined)

1. Vickers, A. J., et al. (2012). Acupuncture for chronic pain: Individual patient data meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine.

2. DeBar, L. L., et al. (2025). Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in older adults: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open.

3. Zhao, L., et al. (2017); Xu, S., et al. (2020). Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis. JAMA Internal Medicine; BMJ.

4. Yuan, Q.-L., et al. (2016). Effectiveness of acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain; Li, X., et al. (2025). Acupuncture for cancer-related pain and chronic pain–related depression.

5. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). “Acupuncture: In Depth.”