A September 2007 study in Germany compared verum and sham acupuncture and conventional therapy to see which is more effective for chronic low back pain. Their conclusion was that either type, verum or sham, was almost twice as effective as conventional therapy.1
Criticisms of the 2007 study include the fact that the researchers failed to clearly define acupuncture and that there is no way to standardize or compare the training or expertise and method of practice of all acupuncturists in a meaningful way. The context of their practice, the extent of their training, and the overall level of expertise among different acupuncturists are variables that impact the validity of this study's conclusions. Particularly, acupuncture training and practice are different for medical doctors than for those who are trained to practice acupuncture outside the traditional medical setting. The study also failed to have a clear goal, attempting to answer questions that would require more than one study to effectively answer. Further, the German study showed no difference in effectiveness of acupuncture vs. sham acupuncture, raising the question of whether acupuncture could be considered effective at all.4
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that low back pain is not a disease but simply a collection of symptoms that occur in a given anatomical location that can be the result of any number of causes. Based on that fact, no one treatment can be considered more effective than any other treatment. WHO further states that meta-analyses have not proven acupuncture (or other manipulative treatments) to be more effective than other forms of therapy for low back pain.6
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine agrees that, through 2007, limitations in design and size of acupuncture research studies have made them difficult to clearly interpret.7
The question of how acupuncture works for pain relief is not clear due to conflicting study results. Studies can be found to support either side of the question about whether acupuncture is more effective than sham acupuncture.
A study done in 2006 found acupuncture to be beneficial for low back pain but found only slight differences in pain relief with needling at acupuncture sites vs. needling at nonacupuncture sites.2 At least one other study has shown greater improvement with needling at acupuncture sites vs. nonacupuncture sites. 8
Other studies have shown some degree of benefit from acupuncture treatment for low back pain where sham acupuncture was not used as a control.9
Acupuncture has also been reported to have benefits when added to other routine care for low back pain.10