Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for back pain in older people, according to new research.

Chronic back pain for the study participants (aged 65 and older) showed greater improvement—in both physical function and reduced pain—when treated with the traditional Chinese method of inserting needles into specific meridians on the body, when compared to common medical care, according to new research.

Affecting over one-in-three older adults, the condition is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and one of the key drivers of the opioid addiction. But treatment options like pain-relieving drugs have a somewhat modest effect.

“They often reduce pain by about a third at best—and can help people function better,” said study lead author Dr. Lynn DeBar, who researched alternative solutions.

The BackInAction clinical trial by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research enrolled 800 participants including men and women over 65 with a medical history of low back pain for at least three months.

While acupuncture has been found to be safe and effective for chronic low back pain in adults overall, few studies have focused on senior citizens.

A third of the participants received up to 15 acupuncture treatments over three months, while another third received an additional six acupuncture treatments over the following three months.

At three study milestones—after 3, 6, and 12 months from enrollment—participants provided self-assessment of their pain and physical limitations. They agreed or disagreed with 24 statements that describe everyday activities made difficult because of back pain.

Their findings, published in JAMA Network Open, showed that—at the six-month and 12-month assessment—both groups who received acupuncture had greater reductions in pain disability than those who received usual medical care alone.

The acupuncture-treated groups also had reduced pain intensity and greater physical function after six months compared to participants who did not receive acupuncture.

MORE ACUPUNCTURE GOOD NEWS:
• How Acupuncture May Ease Symptoms of Menopause
• Tortoise Gets Second Chance After Healing With Acupuncture

“We found that the size of this effect, while modest, was positive and sustained,” said Dr. DeBar, who works with the California-based Kaiser Permanente research group.

She explained what sets the BackInAction study apart, apart from the fact that it’s large and randomized controlled.

It was focused specifically on adults 65 years of age and older, and it was pragmatically designed to involve seniors from multiple regions of the country so the demographics were consistent with the US census.

Most importantly, they worked with licensed acupuncturists in these communities, who are most likely to deliver these services.

The research team suggested that access to acupuncture is important, but if the practitioners could bill Medicare directly it could greatly improve access to such services.

Five years ago, Medicare agreed to begin covering limited numbers of acupuncture treatments for lower back pain, but only when administered or supervised by a physician or other qualified provider in a hospital or clinic setting.

That means state-licensed, independent, community-based acupuncturists, who comprise the vast majority of providers, are not considered qualified and thus cannot bill Medicare directly under current law.

Today, Medicare covers a maximum of 12 acupuncture treatments within a 90-day period in a doctor’s office or hospital. If the patient shows improvement, Medicare may cover up to 8 additional treatments within the same 12-month period, with the patient responsible for a 20% copay after meeting their Part B deductible.

The Backinaction study was undertaken as part of the NIH’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term, or HEAL, Initiative, which seeks to speed scientific solutions to stem the opioid crisis, according to UPI news.

UPI talked to experts who were surprised that the effects lasted until the end of 12 months after only three months of the once-weekly sessions, which can’t be said about pain pills. The effects stop after you stop taking the pills. Not so for acupuncture, according to this study.

“This study shows that achieving back pain relief from acupuncture is verifiable and replicable, and that treatments can make a huge differences in people’s lives at one year out,” Amy Mager, for the American Society of Acupuncturists told UPI.

POKE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY With the News on Social Media…