Acupuncture gives short term relief in chronic neck pain

Compared with sham laser acupuncture and massage, needle acupuncture has beneficial effects on mobility and pain related to motion in patients with neck pain. Irnich and colleagues (p 1574) randomly allocated 177 patients with chronic neck pain to receive five treatments over three weeks of acupuncture, sham laser acupuncture, or massage. One week after the five treatments the acupuncture group showed significantly greater improvement in motion related pain, but three months after treatment the difference was comparatively small and no longer significant. However, acupuncture was the best treatment for patients with myofacial syndrome and those who had pain for more than five years.