Mikefule
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2009
- Messages
- 1,458
- Location
- Lincolnshire UK
I tried acupuncture for several sessions for a frozen shoulder. My symptoms did not improve.
Of course, I do not know if they would have got worse without the acupuncture.
Some sincere and intelligent people report that acupuncture worked for them.
The fact that acupuncture did not work for my frozen shoulder does not mean it would not work for someone else's stiff neck, or knee pain: they are different people and they have different conditions. For comparison: in conventional medicine, we know that penicillin may cure one person's rash, give someone else an allergic reaction, and have no effect on a third person's broken leg.)
One individual's recovery from an injury after a period of acupuncture may be simply a coincidence, or the result of careful and cynical timing by the therapist, or an actual beneficial effect of the acupuncture.
But even if we could establish that in any given case, recovery was caused or accelerated by the acupuncture, that would not mean that the traditional explanation for why it works is correct. For comparison: just because people in the 1600s could predict what was combustible, it didn't mean that the phlogiston theory was correct.
I suspect that in some cases, acupuncture may have a beneficial physical effect (rather than a placebo effect) either by introducing physical tension or triggering a release of physical tension in muscles that are causing pain by "working against each other".
I also suspect that the placebo effect and confirmation bias are significant factors in many cases.
However, there seems to be no doubt that in some circumstances, acupuncture is better than no acupuncture. I am aware of no adverse effects other than the cost.
Of course, I do not know if they would have got worse without the acupuncture.
Some sincere and intelligent people report that acupuncture worked for them.
The fact that acupuncture did not work for my frozen shoulder does not mean it would not work for someone else's stiff neck, or knee pain: they are different people and they have different conditions. For comparison: in conventional medicine, we know that penicillin may cure one person's rash, give someone else an allergic reaction, and have no effect on a third person's broken leg.)
One individual's recovery from an injury after a period of acupuncture may be simply a coincidence, or the result of careful and cynical timing by the therapist, or an actual beneficial effect of the acupuncture.
But even if we could establish that in any given case, recovery was caused or accelerated by the acupuncture, that would not mean that the traditional explanation for why it works is correct. For comparison: just because people in the 1600s could predict what was combustible, it didn't mean that the phlogiston theory was correct.
I suspect that in some cases, acupuncture may have a beneficial physical effect (rather than a placebo effect) either by introducing physical tension or triggering a release of physical tension in muscles that are causing pain by "working against each other".
I also suspect that the placebo effect and confirmation bias are significant factors in many cases.
However, there seems to be no doubt that in some circumstances, acupuncture is better than no acupuncture. I am aware of no adverse effects other than the cost.