A herniated disc in the lumbar (lower) spine is the most common cause of chronic sciatica, a condition in which back pain extends down the leg. The affected nerve is the sciatic nerve, which runs from the lower back down the back of the legs and is the largest nerve in the human body.
For chronic sciatica sufferers, pain relief is a priority, particularly because the chronicity implies that other pain-relief efforts have proved futile. New research suggests acupuncture may be a great option for these patients.
Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the multicenter, two-arm clinical trial involved 200-plus patients with chronic sciatica at six hospitals in China. Patients, all of whom had sciatica due to herniated disks, received 10 sessions of acupuncture or placebo / sham over a four-week period (randomized). Key outcome measures included self-reported leg pain (visual analog scale) and quality of life (Oswestry Disability Index) at week four compared with baseline.
Acupuncture patients experienced a significant decrease in pain intensity (average 31 mm decrease on a 100 mm visual analog scale), while the placebo group’s VAS scores decreased by only 15 mm on average. Average disability index scores also decreased significantly in the acupuncture vs. placebo group (13-point reduction vs. five-point reduction).
Source: Tu J-F, et al. Acupuncture vs sham acupuncture for chronic sciatica from herniated disk: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med, 2024 Dec 1;184(12):1417-1424.
