Brazilian university researchers studying acupuncture for spinal pain, have found that ear acupuncture reduces the degree of disability in sufferers. In a clinical trial, 110 people aged 18 to 80 were randomised into three groups: true acupuncture, placebo acupuncture and a no-treatment control group. Both treatment groups received five sessions, over six weeks.
Compared with initial assessment, the team observed a significant reduction in disability in the treatment and placebo groups, by one week after sessions ended, and again at 15 day follow-up. The true acupuncture group however, experienced a greater reduction in disability.
(Action of ear acupuncture in people with chronic pain in the spinal column: a randomized clinical trial. Revista Latino-Americana de Enfermagem, 3 September 2018.)