Chronic neck pain is a prevalent and serious health issue worldwide, often accompanied by restricted neck movement, dizziness, anxiety, and insomnia. Fortunately, acupuncture has emerged as an effective treatment for chronic neck pain.
A review was conducted to summarize the latest scientific evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating acute, subacute, and chronic neck pain. The review included 27 studies that represented individuals with various types of neck pain. Three studies involved individuals with whiplash-associated disorders, five studies explored chronic myofascial neck pain, five studies focused on chronic pain due to arthritic changes, six studies involved chronic non-specific neck pain, two studies addressed neck pain with radicular signs, and six studies focused on subacute or chronic mechanical neck pain.
The review revealed that acupuncture was beneficial for pain intensity at immediate-term follow-up compared to sham acupuncture, short-term follow-up compared to sham or inactive treatment, and short-term follow-up compared to sham treatment for disability. Furthermore, the review found that acupuncture was effective in improving pain intensity and neck disability compared to wait-list control at short-term follow-up. The results indicated that acupuncture can effectively relieve pain in individuals with chronic neck pain compared to the control groups.
A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in Norway to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating chronic neck and shoulder pain in female office workers. The trial randomly assigned twenty-four female office workers (age 47 +/- 9 years old) who had been experiencing neck and shoulder pain for 12 +/- 9 years to either a test group or a control group. The test group received acupuncture treatment ten times over three to four weeks. The results showed that pain-related activity impairment at work was significantly less in the test group compared to the controls by the end of the treatment. The acupuncture group also exhibited significant differences from the control group in quality of sleep, anxiety, depression, and satisfaction with life. Additionally, at six months and three years follow-ups, the acupuncture group showed further improvements in most variables and remained significantly different from the control group. The trial concluded that intensive acupuncture treatment may improve activity at work and several relevant social and psychological variables for women with chronic neck and shoulder pain, and that the effect may last for at least three years.
In conclusion, chronic neck pain is a significant and widespread health issue that can be debilitating. However, acupuncture has emerged as an effective treatment option for individuals suffering from chronic neck pain. The review and clinical trial provide robust scientific evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating chronic neck pain, with significant improvements observed in pain intensity, disability, quality of sleep, anxiety, depression, satisfaction with life, and activity at work. These findings suggest that acupuncture is a promising alternative treatment option that can improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from chronic neck pain.
References
Jaung-Geng Lin, et al Am J Transl Res. 2022; 14(3): 1469–1481.
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Trinh K, et al Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016:CD004870.
