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What Can Acupuncture treat?
The Acupuncture Evidence Project a Comparative Literature Review by John McDonald and Stephen Janz was published earlier in 2017. This paper undertook a full Literature review on all the studies recently published on acupuncture. From this review they found evidence for the effectiveness of acupuncture for 117 conditions, with stronger evidence for acupuncture’s effectiveness for some conditions. 11 of which were proven to be cost effective.
The 11 conditions for which acupuncture has evidence of cost-effectiveness are:
Allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
Ambulatory anaesthesia
Chronic pain
Depression used in conjunction with SSRI’s
Dysmenorrhoea
Headache
Lower back pain
Migraine
Neck pain (plus usual medical care)
Osteoarthritis
Post-operative nausea and vomiting
The conditions for which acupuncture has been proved with strong evidence through controlled clinical trials to be an effective treatment.
Allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (with anti-emetics)
Chronic low back pain
Headache (tension-type and chronic
Knee osteoarthritis
Migraine prophylaxis
Postoperative nausea & Vomiting
Postoperative pain
The conditions for which acupuncture has been proved with moderate evidence of effectiveness of acupuncture
Acute low back pain
Acute stroke
Ambulatory anaesthesia
Anxiety
Aromatase-inhibitor-induced arthralgia
Asthma in adults
Back or pelvic pain during pregnancy
Cancer pain
Cancer-related fatigue
Constipation
Craniotomy anaesthesia
Depression
Dry eye
Hypertension (with medication)
Insomnia
Irritable bowel syndrome
Labour pain
Lateral elbow pain
Menopausal hot flushes
Modulating sensory perception thresholds
Neck pain
Obesity
Perimenopausal & postmenopausal insomnia
Plantar heel pain
Post-stroke insomnia
Post-stroke shoulder pain
Post-stroke spasticity
Post traumatic stress disorder
Prostatitis pain/ chronic pelvic pain syndrome
Recovery after colorectal cancer resection
Restless leg syndrome
Schizophrenia (with antipsychotics)
Sciatica
Shoulder impingement syndrome (early stage)(with exercise)
Shoulder pain
Smoking cessation (up to 3 months)
Stroke rehabilitation
Temporomandibular pain
The conditions for which acupuncture has been proved with weak positive/ unclear evidence supporting effectiveness of acupuncture
Acupuncture in Emergency Department
Acute ankle sprain
Alzheimer’s disease
Angina pectoris
Assisted conception in ART
Asthma in children
Atopic dermatitis
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Bell’s palsy
Bladder pain syndrome
Cancer-related insomnia
Cancer-related psychological symptoms
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
Chronic urinary retention due to spinal cord injury
Chronic urticaria
Dysmenorrhoea
Dyspepsia in diabetic gastroparesis (DGP)
Erectile dysfunction
Exercise performance & post-exercise recovery
Fatigue in systemic lupus erythematosus
Fibromyalgia
Functional dyspepsia
Gag reflex in dentistry
Glaucoma
Heart failure
Hot flushes in breast cancer
Hyperemesis gravidarum
Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in neonates
Induction of labour
Inflammatory bowel disease
Itch
Lumbar spinal stenosis
Melasma
Meniere’s disease/syndrome
Multiple sclerosis
Mumps in children
Myelosuppression after chemotherapy
Oocyte retrieval pain relief
Opiate addiction
Opioid detoxification
Parkinson’s disease
Polycystic ovarian syndrome
Poor sperm quality
Postnatal depression
Postoperative gastroparesis syndrome (PGS)
Postoperative ileus
Post-stroke hiccoughs
Premenstrual syndrome
Primary ovarian insufficiency
Primary sjogren’s syndrome
Psoriasis vulgaris
Rheumatoid arthritis
Slowing progression of myopia
Spinal cord injury
Stress urinary incontinence in adults
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Surgery analgesia
Tinnitus
Traumatic brain injury
Urinary incontinence
Uterine fibroids
Vascular dementia
Whiplash associated disorder (WAD)
Xerostomia in cancer
The conditions with little or no evidence supporting the effectiveness of acupuncture
Alcohol dependence
Cocaine addiction
Epilepsy
Nausea in pregnancy
Smoking cessation (more than 6 months)
References:
McDonald J, Janz S. The Acupuncture Evidence Project: A Comparative Literature Review (Revised edition). Brisbane: Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association Ltd; 2017. http://www.acupuncture.org.au.
http://www.acupuncture.org.au/OURSERVICES/Publications/AcupunctureEvidenceProject.aspx