Just last year, in 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved acupuncture as a covered treatment for low back pain. Although acupuncture has been used in Asia to treat low back pain and countless other conditions for thousands of years, it is still gaining recognition here in the US and other Western countries.

But at this point the word is getting out: Acupuncture is very effective for treating many different types of low back pain. So why is acupuncture still such an underutilized treatment for low back pain?

For many people there is a lot of fear about a treatment involving needles. True confession time— I myself am a recovering needle-phobe. I can still remember the fear I felt going to the doctor’s office to get vaccinations. The needle hurt, and there was just about anything I would rather do than that. To this very day, I still don’t relish the thought of getting my blood drawn for a routine blood test, and I can’t even watch it being done. Yet, somehow, I became an acupuncturist.

Is getting acupuncture like getting injected with a hypodermic needle? I can honestly say it is not.

First, let’s talk about size. A typical hypodermic needle is about 10-20 times larger than a typical acupuncture needle. The smallest acupuncture needles are only 2 times larger than a hair. Acupuncture needles are very fine filaments and in many cases, you may not even feel them being inserted.

Next let’s talk about needle insertion technique. There are many ways to insert a needle so that it is hardly felt, and there are many areas of the body (like the low back) that are not particularly sensitive. There are even styles of acupuncture from Japan that use extremely shallow insertion and the tiniest of filaments so that the treatment, no matter on what part of the body, is literally painless.

For those who are anxious about needles no matter how small, there are breathing techniques that help distract from needle insertion, and in my practice, I am always responsive to the needs of the individual. When necessary, I limit the number of needles to keep anxiety levels low.

One thing is almost universal in acupuncture treatments. Once the needles are inserted, after some initial sensation, you may not even feel them at all.

So let’s say you are a hard-core needle-phobe and you won’t even consider getting acupuncture for your low back pain under any circumstances. It’s time to introduce you to acupressure and tuina (pronounced ‘tway-nah’). These are both traditional Asian massage techniques that can also be very effective at relieving low back pain, and I commonly use them in my practice. It is possible to just use tuina and acupressure in a treatment and not even come close to a needle.

So if you’ve been thinking about getting acupuncture for your low back pain, but have been hesitating because needles make you nervous, I hope some of what I’ve discussed here can put you at ease.

I’ll wrap this up with one disclaimer. I will never say that acupuncture is always painless. There can be individual needles that are painful on insertion, and areas of the body like the face, feet and hands that are very sensitive. However, there are so many things that can be done during a treatment to minimize pain, and the fear of needles. Because the ultimate point of acupuncture is to relieve pain, not cause you more of it.