Acupuncture and Chronic Low Back Pain
A 2019 National Health Interview Survey (of the CDC) found that 8.2% of American adults have chronic and severe back pain. The CDC additionally found that 39% of US adults reported having back pain in the last 3 months. It is also one of the most common reasons for for people to call out or miss work.
Chronic low back pain is one of the most common causes of disability world-wide and disproportionately affects older adults. Many standard treatments such as opioids and surgery can carry risks, especially in older populations. This makes the search for safe, non-addictive, and effective alternatives hugely important.
A recent NIH-funded clinical trial of 800 participants (2025), who were aged 65 or older and have experienced low back pain for at least three months showed that acupuncture was a helpful and successful treatment. In this study, all participants had access to usual medical care such as medications and physical therapy. The intervention groups received acupuncture in addition to their usual care. In the acupuncture groups, one group received up to 15 acupuncture sessions over three months, while another group received an additional six maintenance sessions in the 4-6 following months.
After 6 and 12 months the acupuncture groups showed greater reductions in self reported pain-related disability when compared to the group which only received usual medical care. Those that received acupuncture also had lower pain intensity and reported improvements in physical function at 6 months compared to those who did not receive acupuncture. Additionally, those who received acupuncture also reported less anxiety at 6 and 12 months.
This is one of the few large trials that looked at acupuncture and low back pain specifically in older adults. Additionally, the authors of this study highlight that broader access to acupuncture, such as allowing Medicare coverage, could increase the usage of acupuncture in an older population who can truly benefit from it. Acupuncture is also generally considered to be safe, natural and only minimally invasive with rare adverse side effects.
Because acupuncture treatments are customized to people’s individual presentation and constitutions the acupuncture points received varied. It is important to understand that East Asian medicine does not view symptoms or even Western Medical diagnosis as the same from person to person. Acupuncturists and East Asian practitioners will also have different styles of treatment and no one treatment would look the same.
Oftentimes, in the US, we are too used to allowing access, cost and insurance coverage to dictate our treatment options and personal medical decisions. We should also consider that thought acupuncture is not considered standard of care for back pain in the United States, it is in other countries where acupuncture is more commonly accepted by the general public.
Use the code ‘PREPARE’ for $20 off an already discounted acupuncture 3 pack that can be used for your first three visits.
Written by Dr. Emily Siy, DACM on 9/17/25, posted on 10/27/25
Sources
National Institutes of Health. (2025, September 12). Acupuncture treatment improves disabling effects of chronic low back pain in older adults [Press release]. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. (2022, September 9). U.S. national survey identifies associations between chronic severe back pain and disability