Research shows: acupuncture more effective in lower back pain than conventional therapies.

Some time ago lot of articles have been written in the newspapers about the last research on acupuncture and conventional methods in treating lower back pain. German researchers made a clinical trial of 1,162 people of an average age of 50 who suffered from lower back pain for approximately 8 years. Results showed that acupuncture was more effective than conventional therapies and that there was little difference in effect between verum (TCM) acupuncture and the so called sham acupuncture.
There where 3 groups in the study. One was being treated which conventional methods like drugs, physical therapy and exercise. The second was being treated with verum (traditional or TCM) acupuncture. Needles were placed in the meridians with a depth of 5 to 40 mm. The third group was treated with so called sham acupuncture. Sham acupuncture means that the needles aren’t placed in acupuncture points but in randomly chosen points. In this case the needles where placed around the painful area and the needles were placed more superficial. See the video. People were treated twice a week for 6 weeks. 10 to 15 treatments.
Of the first group, the group with the conventional therapies, 27,4% reported improvement. Of the second group, the group with the real acupuncture 47,6% improved. Of the third group, the group with the sham acupuncture 44,2% improved. The improvement was followed up till 6 months after the treatments and at that time the improvements were still there.
As a practicing acupuncturist I like to comment on the sham acupuncture in this case. Here the needles are placed around the painful area in the lower back and not randomly on the body. See the video. In Chinese acupuncture not only points on the meridians are treated but also local sore spots. They are called ‘Ah shi points’. So treating points in the back is a form of local acupuncture. It’s a more symptomatic form of acupuncture. I use it al the time!
The other part of acupuncture uses meridians and acupuncture points and distant points. Distant points are often on arms and legs but can be anywhere on the body. To choose the best distant points to use the acupuncturist needs to make a good TCM diagnosis. This part of an acupuncture treatment has a more profound effect and addresses more the cause of the disorder or the pain.
I do not know very much about Japanese acupuncture but I do know that the Japanese use more superficial needling compared to the Chinese. So this can also be seen as a different way of practicing acupuncture. And it also works. The Japanese practitioners are very content with it.
Furthermore, after years of practicing acupuncture I have noticed that ,compared to my beginning years, now my results are better and results appear faster. And I use less needles per patient. How can this be if there is so little difference in results between verum and sham acupuncture? I use the two parts of acupuncture together. I am curious what the results would have been if this way of sham acupuncture and traditional acupuncture were used together. And several years after the treatments the difference might be greater also. Material for more research?