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Originally Posted by dtb
I read something or other about those studies, too (in my acupuncturist's office, I think...). The article I read concluded that a possible reason for the "efficacy" of acupuncture even when needles were put in the "wrong" places is that the relaxation effect occurs even if the needle is a little off, which reduces stress, aids in healing, whatever.
I can't remember what ailment the study subjects were looking to have treated. Was it headaches?
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I don't know enough about acupuncture, but I thought that the treatment was based on more than the "relaxation" effect that the needles produce. Otherwise, we could all just listen to Enya and get the same results. In any event, I think the needles were placed in completely wrong places, an on purpose, in order to study whether there was a placebo effect to acupuncture. It seems entiurely plausible to me that there would be a strong placebo effect to acupuncture. Please do not respond with the argument that acupuncture worked for you despite the fact that you were skeptical, so that proves that there is not a placebo effect because 1) that argument proves no such thing, and 2) the fact that there is likely to be a placebo effect with acupuncture in no way rules out that acupuncture could also be effective in many other cases for reasons that are not related to a placebo effect.
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