Here are some thoughts:



http://www.quackwatch.org/...latedTopics/acu.html





Thom

Acupuncture has many hundreds of years of clinical observation and more recently scientific controlled studies. Don't let anybody tell you that there is not some value to it.

I wouldn't take anything Barret says very seriously. The guy wears blinkers and he's actually a mouthpiece for the drug industry and the most conservative political elements within AMA but disguised as some sort of an anti-quack crusader.

I've taken a few acupuncture courses and undergone treatment myself. My recommendation is to find a Chinese trained doc as their training is more extensive than anything offered here. We have a guy like that in our area and I (a DC) refer to him as do a number of the more open minded local MD's.

Acupuncture is like anything else though. It works wonderful for some but results can be less impressive than for others.

I have had fantastic results with accupuncture (on two seperate areas), but I find the results work better on nerve problems than muscle problems.
For lower back pain/muscle problems, I would suggest someone who does Active Release Therapy - ART - look at www.activerelease.com. I had lower back, QL, piriformis, you name it - six visits, I'm back at 100%.

I've had it done numerous times...helped in the healing of all sorts of tendonitis and a torn achilles tendon (the tendon healed, but still had the tendonitis feeling). It won't cure anything that is serious, but I think it helps!