The Applicability of Acupuncture

The ancients treated every health problem they encountered with acupuncture and moxibustion. Dr James Tin Yau So, founder of the New England School of Acupuncture, claimed that everything except syphilis could be treated. Of course, these days you'd be better off finding a good orthopedist to set your broken bone than looking for a traditional Chinese bone-setter.

But acupuncture and moxibustion can be used as preventive medicine, as treatment for acute injuries and illnesses, and for treatment or palliation of chronic illness or pain.

In 1979 the World Health Organization published a list of conditions for which acupuncture and moxibustion is commonly used and can be effective. Most Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion textbooks offer treatment protocols for many more conditions than the WHO list, but do not offer objective studies supporting their positions.
Chinese medicine is the result of observation and study of people and their lives, over many centuries, and until the last few years it has not been the subject of placebo-controlled double-blind studies.

World Health Organization list
Upper Respiratory -- sinusitis, rhinitis, common cold, tonsillitis
Respiratory -- bronchitis, bronchial asthma
Eye -- conjunctivitis, retinitis, myopia in children, simple cataract
Mouth -- toothache, post-extraction pain, gingivitis, pharyngitis
Gastrointestinal -- esophageal and cardial spasms, hiccough, gastroptosis, gastritis, gastric hyperacidity, pain relief of chronic duodenal ulcer, acute duodenal ulcer, colitis, bacillary dysentery, constipation, diarrhea, paralytic ileus
Neurological -- headache, migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, facial palsy (within 3-6 months) paresis following a stroke, peripheral neuropathies, Meniere's disease, neurogenic bladder dysfunction, nocturnal enuresis, intercostal neuralgia, cervicobrachial syndrome
Musculoskeletal -- "frozen shoulder," "tennis elbow," sciatica, low back pain, osteoarthritis

The 1997 consensus statement by the National Institutes of Health said that studies are "showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program."

Many acupuncturists, myself included, find success treating many musculoskeletal problems, digestive disorders, urinary problems, infectious and immunological problems, menstrual and menopausal symptoms, headache, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety and stress.

People come for acupuncture for myriad reasons: for pain relief, for another option when they don't like the surgical or drug options they've been offered, for balance knowing that the medications only relieve symptoms and do nothing for real healing, in desperation when they've been told there's nothing more that can be done, for relief of unwanted side effects from necessary medications, for supportive therapy during cancer treatment and for palliative care for an "incurable" condition, as well as for true primary preventive care and wellness maintenance.