Traditional Chinese healing practices, including acupuncture, have been relatively recently presented as a system on par with, if not superior to, medicine in the West. However, accompanying the introduction of Chinese healing practices to the West have come some rather widespread and fundamental misunderstandings of what acupuncture is and was, and how it developed.

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Below is a list of 31 symptoms and conditions that have been proven to be treated effectively by acupuncture by the World Health Organization.

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World Health Organization: Acupuncture Proven Effective for:

 

Musculo-skeletal Conditions

 

• Arthritis

• Muscle pain, swelling, stiffness and weakness

• Localized traumatic injuries, sprains, strains, tendinitis, contractures

• Work and sports related injuries

• Low back and/or neck strain

• Fibromyalgia

• Osteoarthritis

• Frozen shoulder

• Tennis elbow

• Sciatica

 

Neurological Conditions

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• Headache and migraine

• Trigeminal neuralgia

• Facial palsy (early stage, within three to six months)

• Paresis following stroke

• Peripheral neuropathy

• Meniere’s Disease

• Nocturnal enuresis

• Cervicobrachial syndrome

• Neurogenic bladder dysfunction

• Intercostal neuralgia

• Disc problems

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Psychological Conditions

 

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Insomnia

• Hypersomnia

• OCD

• PTSD

• Somatization disorder

 

Respiratory System Conditions

 

• Acute sinusitis

• Acute rhinitis

• Common cold and allergies

• Acute tonsillitis

• Acute bronchitis

• Bronchial asthma

 

Conditions of the Eye, Ear, Nose & Mouth

 

• Acute conjunctivitis

• Central retinitis

• Myopia (in children)

• Cataract (without complications)

• Toothaches, post extraction pain

• Gingivitis

• Acute and chronic pharyngitis

• Gastrointestinal Conditions

 

Spasms of esophagus and cardiac

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• Irritable bowel and colitis

• Gastroptosis

• Acute and chronic gastritis

• Gastric hyperacidity (acid reflux)

• Chronic duodenal ulcer (pain relief)

• Acute duodenal ulcer (without complication)

• Acute and chronic colitis

• Constipation

• Diarrhea

• Acute bacillary dysentery

• Paralytic ileus

 

Gynecological Conditions

 

• Infertility

• PMS

• Dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation)

• Menopause syndrome

• Benign irregular menstruation

• Benign amenorrhea (absence of menses)

 

Cardiovascular Conditions

 

• Essential hypertension

 

Other Conditions

 

• Withdrawal from street and pharmacological drugs

• Appetite suppression

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“Acupuncture could serve as a valuable alternative treatment for many diseases or conditions for which modern conventional treatments are unsuccessful. It is also valuable in situations where the patient is frightened of the potential risks or adverse effects of modern conventional treatments. In fact, in some developed countries, the diseases for which patients seek help from acupuncturists tend to be beyond the scope of orthodox medicine.”