CONDITIONS TREATED

When I say “and much more” I’m not kidding! Here’s a list of conditions the World Health Organization (WHO)* deems appropriate to treat with acupuncture.

  • Conditions include but are not limited to:

    Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy

    Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)

    Biliary colic

    Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following

    stroke)

    Dysentery, acute bacillary

    Dysmenorrhoea, primary

    Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and

    gastrospasm)

    Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)

    Headache

    Hypertension, essential

    Hypotension, primary

    Induction of labour

    Knee pain

    Leukopenia

    Low back pain

    Malposition of fetus, correction of

    Morning sickness

    Nausea and vomiting

    Neck pain

    Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular

    dysfunction)

    Periarthritis of shoulder

    Postoperative pain

    Renal colic

    Rheumatoid arthritis

    Sciatica

    Sprain

    Stroke

    Tennis elbow

    Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)

    Acne vulgaris

    Alcohol dependence and detoxification

    Bell’s palsy

    Bronchial asthma

    Cancer pain

    Cardiac neurosis

    Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation

    Cholelithiasis

    Competition stress syndrome

    Craniocerebral injury, closed

    Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent

    Earache

    Epidemic haemorrhagic fever

    Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)

    Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection

    Female infertility

    Facial spasm

    Female urethral syndrome

    Fibromyalgia and fasciitis

    Gastrokinetic disturbance

    Gouty arthritis

    Hepatitis B virus carrier status

    Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)

    Hyperlipaemia

    Hypo-ovarianism

    Insomnia

    Labour pain

    Lactation, deficiency

    Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic

    Ménière disease

    Neuralgia, post-herpetic

    Neurodermatitis

    Obesity

    Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence

    Osteoarthritis

    Pain due to endoscopic examination

    Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans

    Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein–Leventhal syndrome)

    Postextubation in children

    Postoperative convalescence

    Premenstrual syndrome

    Prostatitis, chronic

    Pruritus

    Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome

    Raynaud syndrome, primary

    Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection

    Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

    Retention of urine, traumatic

    Schizophrenia

    Sialism, drug-induced

    Sjögren syndrome

    Sore throat (including tonsillitis)

    Spine pain, acute

    Stiff neck

    Temporomandibular joint dysfunction

    Tietze syndrome

    Tobacco dependence

    Tourette syndrome

    Ulcerative colitis, chronic

    Urolithiasis

    Vascular dementia

    Whooping cough (pertussis)

  • Zhang X. Acupuncture Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials, Geneva: World Health Organization, 2002. The World Health Organization.