Effectiveness of Acupuncture on Pain, Functional Disability, and Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis of the Hand: Results of a Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by pain, functional disability, poor quality of life (QoL), high socioeconomic impact, and annual costs of over $56 billion in the United States. Acupuncture (AC) is widely in use; however, studies show severe methodological shortcomings, did not consider the functional diagnosis for the allocation of acupoints and their results showed no differences between verum and control groups.

Objective: The authors aimed to objectively assess the safety and efficacy of AC treatments for RA.

Immediate Pain Relief in Adhesive Capsulitis by Acupuncture-A Randomized Controlled Double-Blinded Study.

Objective: Primary adhesive capsulitis (AC), or frozen shoulder, is an insidious and idiopathic disease. Severe pain is predominant in the first two of the three stages of the condition, which can last up to 21 months.

Design, Setting, And Subjects: Sixty volunteers with primary AC were randomly assigned to acupuncture with press tack needles compared with press tack placebos in a patient- and observer-blinded placebo-controlled study.

Evaluation of the effect of acupuncture on hand pain, functional deficits and health-related quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis--A study protocol for a multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease characterized by functional disability and pain. Although acupuncture is widely used, until now Western acupuncture studies on RA have not shown conclusive positive results. Acupuncture is regarded as a reflex therapy that has effects on the human autonomic nervous system.