South Med J. 1978 Aug; 71(8): 898-903.

Two and a half years of acupuncture in Alabama.

Chen GS, Hwang YC.

From the data presented it appears that acupuncture helped in more than 50% of the patients by either completely or partially controlling pain from certain disorders. Patients helped by acupuncture received 8.55 treatments on the average, while patients not helped by acupuncture only received 4.75 treatments. There is difference between the male and female patients as to the response to acupuncture. However, we noticed that the younger the patient and the shorter the duration of their of problems, the better the response. Patients who had not had surgery to treat the pain syndrome responded better than those who had had previous surgery. Patients with backache who had previously had laminectomy showed better response to acupuncture than patients who had had spinal fusion. It appears that good general health plays an important role in favorable response to acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture may be a valuable extension of a conventional pain clinic and an alternative in patients who are desperate to obtain relief from pain which they failed to obtain from other methods.