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High-level acupuncture summary

 •  • by Paul Ingraham
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Weekly nuggets of pain science news and insight, usually 100-300 words, with the occasional longer post. The blog is the “director’s commentary” on the core content of PainScience.com: a library of major articles and books about common painful problems and popular treatments. See the blog archives or updates for the whole site.

To this day, even skeptics still cut acupuncture too much slack. But it’s pure nonsense — no better than homeopathy, psychic surgery, or ivermectin for Covid. Yesterday, I polished my high-level summary of acupuncture and made a “graphical quote” out of it…

An attractively typeset quote in white print on a blue background, attributed to Paul Ingraham of PainScience.com, with the URL PainScience.com/acupuncture. The quote reads: “Acupuncture’s popularity comes from easily debunked myths and propaganda. It is not based on ancient Chinese wisdom about health — not that traditional Chinese medicine was ever ‘wise’ to begin with. It is actually a surprisingly modern invention, and was more like bloodletting historically. It is based entirely on vitalism, a naive belief in a nonexistent energy powering all life — just like the Force in Star Wars. Contrary to legend, acupuncture is not an anaesthetic (journalist James Reston didn’t do that, by his own account); that claim was grossly exaggerated for political reasons during the Cultural Revolution. Even acupuncture’s reputation as popular is exaggerated!

A high-level summary isn’t about the science, but of course I do cover the science in detail. See Does Acupuncture Work for Pain? A review of modern acupuncture evidence and myths, focused on treatment of back pain & other common chronic pains.

PainSci Member Login » Submit your email to unlock member content. If you can’t remember/access your registration email, please contact me. ~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher