Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a list of more than 100 diseases, symptoms or conditions that acupuncture has been proven to be effective or therapeutic through controlled trials. The full list is available through the link, some common conditions are listed below.

Proven to be effective:

  • Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy

  • Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)

  • Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)

  • Dysmenorrhea, primary

  • Headache

  • Hypertension, essential

  • Hypotension, primary

  • Knee pain

  • Low back pain

  • Morning sickness

  • Nausea and vomiting

  • Neck pain

  • Periarthritis of shoulder

  • Postoperative pain

  • Rheumatoid arthritis

  • Sciatica

  • Sprain

  • Stroke

  • Tennis elbow

Shown to be therapeutic, further proof needed:

  • Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)

  • Acne vulgaris

  • Alcohol dependence and detoxification

  • Bell’s palsy

  • Bronchial asthma

  • Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent

  • Female infertility

  • Fibromyalgia and fasciitis

  • Gouty arthritis

  • Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)

  • Hyperlipademia

  • Insomnia

  • Lactation, deficiency

  • Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic

  • Meniere’s disease

  • Neuralgia, post-herpetic

  • Obesity

  • Osteoarthritis

  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein–Leventhal syndrome)

  • Postoperative convalescence

  • Premenstrual syndrome

  • Prostatitis, chronic

  • Raynaud syndrome, primary

  • Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection

  • Sjögren syndrome

  • Sore throat (including tonsillitis)

  • Spine pain, acute

  • Stiff neck

  • Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

  • Tobacco dependence

  • Tourette syndrome

  • Ulcerative colitis, chronic