In the country's largest study of back pain and acupuncture, researchers at Group Health found that acupuncture and an acupuncture-like treatment involving toothpicks relieved chronic low-back pain better than customary medical care, which included medication and physical therapy.
The study also found that the toothpick method, which involved no piercing of skin, was just as effective as needle insertion.
Researchers found that 60 percent of the treated patients felt significantly better at eight weeks, versus only 40 percent of the untreated patients.
At 52 weeks, pain scores for both groups were about the same. But researchers also measured functioning levels -- such as the ability to work or run errands -- and found that the treated group had higher functioning scores than the untreated group a year after treatment began.
What does it all mean? The study's authors, from Group Health's Center for Health Studies, offered a few theories. They said stimulation of acupuncture points -- without needle insertion -- may be enough to rouse physiological changes that reduce pain and improve functioning.
Another theory held that the light touching of skin might induce emotional and hormonal reactions for pain reduction. A third explanation lay in the possibility that the treatment "experience" itself made people feel better.
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