Chronic low back pain is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It can make every move painful and greatly interfere with daily life.

The symptoms of back pain often persist for a year or more; and this means those suffering from it need effective, nonaddictive approaches to pain management. Some clinical results suggest that acupuncture needling, a traditional East Asian medicine technique involving very fine needles manually inserted into the skin at specific points on the body, can provide effective pain relief.

A recent study looked at its effectiveness in adults 65 years old and older, one-third of whom have chronic low back pain. Led by researchers at Kaiser Permanente, it found that acupuncture can safely and effectively relieve chronic low back pain in this population.

Some clinical results suggest acupuncture needling, a traditional East Asian medicine technique where needles are manually inserted into the skin at specific points on the body, can provide effective pain relief.

Older adults often have other health issues in addition to low back pain, and this can make prescribing some painkillers risky. “Acupuncture offers a less invasive option with a better safety profile than many common treatments for back pain in older adults,” Andrea Cook, the co-lead investigator on the study and a senior biostatistics investigator at Kaiser Permanente, said in a statement.

Eight hundred adults 65 and older were enrolled in the study called BackInAction. Participants reported experiencing chronic low back pain for at least three months. They were divided into three groups: one had 15 acupuncture sessions over three months, the standard for acupuncture treatment; the second group received an additional six acupuncture sessions over the following three months; the third control group received standard medical treatments for their pain.

Participants in all three groups filled out self-assessments of their pain level and physical limitations at three months, six months and one year after enrollment.

People in the two groups who got acupuncture reported less pain than those in the control group after both six months and one year. Those in the acupuncture groups also had less intense pain and more physical function after six months.

People receiving acupuncture reported less pain after six months and one year than those in the control group.

These benefits were sustained through the one-year study period in both groups — even in those who had had their last acupuncture treatment nine months earlier — a result that surprised the researchers.

These long-term effects are potentially a big plus. “One might expect you don't have to get acupuncture as an ongoing treatment, compared to pain medication which only works when you take it,” Lynn DeBar, co-lead author on the study, told TheDoctor.

The researchers focused on acupuncture needling and needle placement. Future work might look at the effectiveness of other types of acupuncture or other treatments used in Oriental medicine. DeBar, a distinguished investigator at Kaiser Permanente, suggested that gua sha, the East Asian technique where the skin is firmly scraped in one direction with a smooth-edged tool, might also help relieve back pain.

The current study assessed only low back pain. Acupuncture might help with other types of chronic pain as well, DeBar added.

One way to greatly improve access to acupuncture for older adults would be to allow acupuncturists to bill Medicare directly, the researchers said.

If you want to find a licensed acupuncturist, you can go to the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and access their Find a Practitioner directory.

The study was published in JAMA Network Open.