Read full article below and/or watch this One Minute with Martha as she answers the question if you can use Acupuncture for chronic pain.
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Living with chronic pain affects more than the part of your body that hurts. It can interfere with sleep, movement, work, exercise, concentration, and mood. After months or years, it can get hard to separate the pain itself from everything that’s built up around it.
One of the reasons I enjoy working with chronic pain is that acupuncture gives us another way to look at the whole picture, not just the spot where it hurts.
Can acupuncture help with chronic pain?
Research suggests acupuncture may help with several pain conditions, including back and neck pain and knee pain from osteoarthritis. The evidence isn’t identical for every type of pain, and acupuncture isn’t a guarantee that chronic pain will disappear. That distinction matters to me.
When someone comes to me with chronic pain, I don’t start by promising a result. I start by trying to understand it:
- Where is it, and how long has it been there?
- What makes it better or worse?
- Does it change throughout the day?
- Does it interfere with sleep or movement?
- Have you had an injury, surgery, or other treatment?
- Is there a diagnosed condition contributing to it?
- What have you already tried?
Two people can both say “back pain” and mean very different things, with very different reasons behind it and very different responses to treatment.
Chronic pain is more than a pain score
I want to know whether treatment is changing your life in practical ways. That might mean:
- Walking farther, or turning your head more easily
- Sleeping longer without waking from pain
- Needing less time to loosen up in the morning
- An activity that usually aggravates the pain becoming easier
- Flare-ups happening less often, or relief lasting longer between visits
Patients sometimes focus so much on whether the pain is completely gone that they overlook smaller changes that show something is shifting. Those changes matter, and I want to hear about them.
What kinds of chronic pain do people see me for?
Commonly, musculoskeletal and nerve-related complaints involving the lower back, neck, shoulders, hips, knees, feet, hands, wrists, head, or jaw. Patients also come in with arthritis pain, sciatica, headaches or migraines, muscle spasms, or pain that’s persisted after an injury.
Evidence varies by condition. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes evidence of potential benefit for conditions including back or neck pain and osteoarthritis-associated knee pain.
More on the pain conditions I treat →
Why chronic pain sometimes takes more than one treatment
A problem that’s been present a long time doesn’t always respond the way a recent injury does. Some patients notice a change quickly; others need several visits before a meaningful pattern emerges.
I pay attention to what happens between treatments, not just on the table. If you feel better for a few hours afterward, that tells me something. If relief starts lasting a day, then several days, that’s useful too. And if nothing changes, I want to know that as well, because treatment shouldn’t continue on autopilot. Your response guides what we do next.
How I determine treatment frequency →
If you’ve already tried other treatments
Many people who come to me with chronic pain have already seen a physician, physical therapist, chiropractor, orthopedist, or pain specialist, or are already exercising, taking medication, or working with another provider.
Acupuncture can often work alongside those treatments rather than replace them. I don’t recommend stopping prescribed medication or other medical treatment without talking to the provider managing it.
What it feels like
If you haven’t had acupuncture before, the needles are usually what you’re most worried about. They’re very thin, and most people feel a brief pinch or very little at all. I’ve written more on what the sensations are like and what to do if you’re nervous →
How do I know whether it’s helping?
I look for a pattern, which might mean lower pain intensity, but could also mean pain returning less often, flare-ups lasting less time, moving more freely, sleeping better, recovering faster after activity, or returning to something you’d been avoiding. You don’t have to analyze every sensation, just notice what changes in the days after treatment.
What to expect after your first treatment →
When chronic pain needs medical evaluation first
Acupuncture can be part of a pain-management plan, but it isn’t a substitute for medical evaluation. Please see a physician promptly if your pain is new and unexplained, wakes you at night, comes with unexplained weight loss or fever, or if you notice numbness, weakness, or changes in bladder or bowel control. Knowing what’s driving your pain helps me make better decisions too.
Why this work is personal to me
Chronic pain isn’t something I only understand from the outside. I’ve lived with pain from nerve damage that didn’t resolve quickly, and I know what it’s like when the people around you can’t quite see what you’re dealing with, or when you start to wonder if you’re explaining it right. That experience shapes how I listen: I don’t assume I know what your pain is doing to your life until you tell me, and I don’t expect you to make it make sense on the first try.
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