Having back pain? Acupuncture can help

Back pain is very common, with around one in three of us getting it every year. It’s usually the lower back that’s affected. Lower back pain doesn’t normally have a serious cause and in most cases the pain will improve within four to six weeks. However, for some back pain can continue for many months or even years.

When your back is painful, what do you do about it? Do you take pills? Do you go for acupuncture? What else do you do? Do you take placebo pills?

A recent research studied the effect of placebo pills to back pain. 100 people with back pain participated the study. All the volunteers had suffered for years and felt their current medication wasn't up to the job. These people were randomly split into two groups. One group received no more than nine minutes and 22 seconds with the GP to discuss their back before being given a supply of pills and hustled out - that's the length of an average GP consultation. The other group was given more than twice as long. These people were given placebo pills (fake pills) which contain no pain killers’ drugs. Three weeks later, half of people reported significant relief from taking the pills - even though they were fake. And the time they spent with the doctor had a substantial effect on the outcome, with people benefitting from having a longer consultation with their GP.

Why this happened? research has shown that taking a placebo can trigger the release of endorphins from the brain- natural painkillers that are similar in structure to morphine.

It is like acupuncture, acupuncture can trigger brain release endorphins to have analgesic effects.

References

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45721670