The biggest issue with proving the efficacy of acupuncture with a double blinded placebo controlled clinical trial is that the research design does not support or fit the paradigm that acupuncture is practiced under, majority of current research designs are ‘attempting’ to prove acupuncture works but not providing treatments as they would be administered in a clinical practice.
Double blinded procedures are almost impossible to implement during acupuncture clinical trials, more often than not research designs use qualified acupuncturists to provide active and sham treatments. A qualified Acupuncturist is going to know the indications and actions of points that they are needling and whether or not they are providing an active or a sham treatment, thus using an acupuncturist as a practitioner they cannot be blinded. Sometimes nurses are trained to insert the needles at sham and active acupuncture sites, this raises issues in point location accuracy and the obtaining of ‘De Qi’ (meaning the point has been appropriately stimulated, De Qi sensation is vital for effective treatment). Acupuncturists in Australia spend four years in clinic studying and learning to locate points accurately yet nurses will be trained up in a matter of weeks. Thus non qualified administers of acupuncture may be considered as blinded however they may or may not be administering acupuncture effectively.
The next big issue is ‘controlled’ research. Chinese medicine diagnosis each individual as a unique pattern of disharmony which pertains individually to that person, thus in western medicine someone will be diagnosed with acne, in TCM theory the “acne” can be diagnosed as “lung Qi deficiency” “damp heat” “stomach fire” “kidney and liver yin Xu” or any other number of patterns all depending on the other accompanying signs and symptoms thus each person will be treated completely differently to the next. Most clinical trial designs use a selection of 1 to 8 acupuncture points which are used on the participants. There are over 300 acupuncture points which can be used in clinical practice and yet ‘controlled’ trials can only use 1 to 8. Sometimes the design allows for individual treatment plans but it is usually still only using a select amount of points for all patients in the trial.
Thus in clinical practice no ONE treatment will suit EVERY individual.
Placebo effect from ‘Sham’ acupuncture tends to be so high in acupuncture research because often the researchers will use ‘unrelated real/ active acupuncture points’ as a ‘Sham’ point, this active point is going to have an energetic effect on the system. In other designs non acupuncture sites are used as Sham points, however this doesn’t rule out that the site being stimulated is not an Ah Shi site (isn’t an acupuncture point but a tender site used to promote Qi).
The word Placebo is an umbrella word like phenomenon which purely means ‘it works but we can’t YET explain how it works SCIENTIFICALLY’. So yeah, acupuncture may indeed, to a scientific westerners perspective of the world, be a placebo effect but to any Acupuncturist, patient of Acupuncture or open minded being, it can be implemented into their life and understood as a complete system which integrates philosophy, spirituality, energetic anatomy and physiology, emotions and universal wisdom and connection which explains completely and thoroughly how and why it is effective and works as a system. Learning traditional Chinese Medicine is learning to perceive the universe and yourself from an entirely different perspective to how we are taught to think in the west, it provides an opportunity to grow, develop and evolve as a being.
Most research is proven insignificant due to a lack of research designs which effectively test acupuncture in it’s actual technique and beautiful art form which is proficiently applied in a qualified acupuncturists clinical practice.
Finally as for ‘cosmetic acupuncture’ the true essence behind traditional Chinese medicine is rebalancing the Yin and Yang energies of your body, mind and spirit which includes unblocking stagnation, releasing old negative thought patterns and behaviors and bringing in nourishment from food, air, self love and life experiences so that your body can begin to heal itself and reach its own holistic equilibrium. Being responsible for your own personal healing, empowers you as a unique individual to follow your heart and live the life that you dream of, acupuncture is about encouraging you to be in touch with who you are on the inside and accepting and loving yourself just because you exist, irregardless of superficial insecurities like wrinkles.
Acupuncture helps you fall in love with yourself and your life which radiates through your spirit and is perceived within you as light and love but from others as pure enlightened beauty! Acupuncture empowers people to heal themselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually! Theres nothing more “beautiful” than a free spirit who has taken responsibility for their own healing!! And nothing more freeing than feeling “beautiful” within yourself!! In the words of Lonnie Jarrett, acupuncture “nourishes your destiny…”
