There’s been a lot of negative talk on chiropractors and how they don’t really help, science wise. What about acupuncture?
In: Biology
There is no established science behind acupuncture. Acupuncture is considered pseudoscience.
There isn’t really any. Acupuncture is based on the flow of qi (energy), through the body which doesn’t have any basis in actual anatomy or physiology as we currently understand it. Most of the perceived benefits are likely placebo.
That said, acupuncture performed by a trained practitioner is quite safe, and at the end of the day do you care that it’s a placebo if your pain feels better?
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There is no science behind it.
That’s…that’s it. That’s the whole answer.
It is as “scientific” as astrology, tarot readings, and healing crystals.
There isn’t any science behind it. But a friend goes weekly and she swears by it. The way she describes it, having a needle poked in her forces her to relax her muscles. By the end of the session, she is completely relaxed.
So if it works, it works!
Acupuncture? Not a science. But…
It works. Not for curing every ailment under the sun, as is traditionally claimed, and not via qi or mystical energy channels in the body, but for a few very specific issues.
And so it’s been incorporated into actual medical treatments under the name “dry needling”. And, having had quite a few treatments, omg is it amazing. Especially electric dry needling.
Now… How it works is not exactly known. Near as they can tell, a needle inserted into muscle can somehow tickle some muscle fibers, and induce the release of endogenous opiates (aka endorphins), which our our body’s painkillers, which can provide some amazing non-pharmaceutical pain relief. Unfortunately it’s probably also addictive and effectiveness can reduce with overuse, but it’s not anywhere near as much as taking some morphine.
It can also work wonders for relaxing a muscle spasm, especially with the introduction of current. The electricity, applied directly to the muscle, does the same thing that doing it transdermally would, causes controlled contractions on the spasming muscle, kind of “resetting” it. The advantage of a needle is that it can hit deeper muscles than a sticky pad, and be very targeted.
If you have chronic pain, I can’t recommend giving dry needling a try enough. It won’t cure anything, but it can definitely offer some temporary relief without the same risks as potent painkillers.
Rule of life: If “alternative medicine,” was real and had scientific basis, it would just be called “medicine.”
Medicine is a scientific field because it’s supported by scientific research. If you want something that has actual “science,” behind it, scientifically backed medicine is the only place to get it.
If you want to believe in magic based medicine, you’re more than welcome to (though I strongly urge you don’t force children or animals to undergo these “treatments”), but you are going to have to acknowledge that there’s no scientific backing, and that often times the scientific research into those alternative practices shoes they’re more harmful than the practitioners let on. This goes for chiropractic, crystal healing, homeopathy, and everything else as well.
Medlife Crisis on YouTube actually did a pretty good video talking about alternative medicine recently, and I strongly urge you to check it out: [https://youtu.be/7paOUIrjEvw?si=er2yfcAzbq7OOJCK](https://youtu.be/7paOUIrjEvw?si=er2yfcAzbq7OOJCK)
There is a part of the anatomy called the [interstitium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstitium) that medical science only discovered a few years ago. It at least could offer a plausible explanation as to how acupuncture could work. Yet most docs saw, and ignored it for years. There’s a pretty good [episode of Radiolab](https://radiolab.org/podcast/interstitium) that goes much deeper.
I’m always hesitant to dismiss something just because science hasn’t validated it. There’s an infinite amount of undiscovered phenomena in the world, sometimes because we overlook what’s right in front of our faces. Not too long ago, science would institutionalize women for “hysteria,” lobotomize the mentally ill, and sterilize disfavored women to “strengthen” the population. Hell it’s only been 50 years since medical science stopped considering homosexuality a pathology.
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There’s some very minor/inconsistent evidence that perhaps increased blood flow from acupuncture could help alleviate some tension, offering relief from muscle tightness and the associated pain. But really it’s mostly placebo. And that’s fine, as long as it doesn’t come with injury risk (like Chiropractics does) or exploit too much money out of you. But a lot of acupuncturists will make very bold and unfounded claims about its benefits, like curing chronic diseases.
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