The Cochrane Reviews: The newest, strongest and the least biased reviews on acupuncture

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By Jacknunn - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

By Jacknunn - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

When it comes to acupuncture, the most favorable evidence available is also the newest, strongest and least biased.

This is based off a number of recent systematic reviews from the Cochrane collaborative, that state that acupuncture is a valuable treatment option for a number of conditions including: 

Tension type headaches

The Authors' Conclusions:  
"The available results suggest that acupuncture is effective for treating frequent episodic or chronic tension-type headaches, but further trials - particularly comparing acupuncture with other treatment options - are needed."
Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (2016).

Neck pain

The Authors' Conclusions: 
"Moderate-quality evidence suggests that acupuncture relieves pain better than sham acupuncture, as measured at completion of treatment and at short-term follow-up, and that those who received acupuncture report less pain and disability at short-term follow-up than those on a wait-list. Moderate-quality evidence also indicates that acupuncture is more effective than inactive treatment for relieving pain at short-term follow-up."
Acupuncture for neck disorders. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (2016).

Episodic migraine

The Authors' Conclusions: 
"The available evidence suggests that adding acupuncture to symptomatic treatment of attacks reduces the frequency of headaches. Contrary to the previous findings, the updated evidence also suggests that there is an effect over sham, but this effect is small. The available trials also suggest that acupuncture may be at least similarly effective as treatment with prophylactic drugs. Acupuncture can be considered a treatment option for patients willing to undergo this treatment. As for other migraine treatments, long-term studies, more than one year in duration, are lacking."
Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. (2016). 

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