According to a report conducted by medical researchers, acupuncture for low back pain works and can be cost effective.
The cost of acupuncture is considered well below the threshold used by officials in order to decide whether or not the NHS is able to afford to fund such a set treatment.
However, two studies on BMJ.
com suggest that a short course of acupuncture would really benefit patients and healthcare providers.
It is said that up to 80 per cent of people in the UK will experience back pain at some point in their lives, which costs the NHS a staggering £480 million a year.
The annual economic cost of low back pain in disability, sickness benefits and lost productivity is estimated to be more than £10 billion.
The evidence of acupuncture's benefits is still inconclusive; however, around 2 per cent of the UK population uses it in any one year.
Dr Hugh MacPherson from the University of York and colleagues and Sheffield University said they reached their conclusions by studying 241 adults that all had low back pain.
All the patients remained under GP care but all were randomly assigned to up to 10 acupuncture treatment sessions or the usual NHS care.
The study was undertaken for a period of two years and it was discovered that the average cost of back pain treatment, including acupuncture, was £460, compared to £345 for usual care.
The investigators came to the conclusion that the health benefits gained from acupuncture in terms of quality and quantity of life were more worthwhile, regardless of it being more expensive.
All patients who received acupuncture in the study claimed they felt lower pain levels and in result used fewer painkillers to those who received usual NHS care.
The different in pain scores between the groups was only small according to the study authors.
Nevertheless they said it represented a "clinically worthwhile benefit" and can be viewed as a "moderate" effect.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said that it was up to the local NHS service providers to decide when to provide acupuncture.
Chief executive of the British Acupuncture Council, Mike O'Farrell, said: "Our hope is that after regulation, which is probably 2008, the decision makers will have increased awareness and confidence to offer acupuncture more widely.
"Mike Cummings, medical director of the British Medical Acupuncture Society, cautioned that not everyone with back pain would benefit from acupuncture though.
The cost of acupuncture is considered well below the threshold used by officials in order to decide whether or not the NHS is able to afford to fund such a set treatment.
However, two studies on BMJ.
com suggest that a short course of acupuncture would really benefit patients and healthcare providers.
It is said that up to 80 per cent of people in the UK will experience back pain at some point in their lives, which costs the NHS a staggering £480 million a year.
The annual economic cost of low back pain in disability, sickness benefits and lost productivity is estimated to be more than £10 billion.
The evidence of acupuncture's benefits is still inconclusive; however, around 2 per cent of the UK population uses it in any one year.
Dr Hugh MacPherson from the University of York and colleagues and Sheffield University said they reached their conclusions by studying 241 adults that all had low back pain.
All the patients remained under GP care but all were randomly assigned to up to 10 acupuncture treatment sessions or the usual NHS care.
The study was undertaken for a period of two years and it was discovered that the average cost of back pain treatment, including acupuncture, was £460, compared to £345 for usual care.
The investigators came to the conclusion that the health benefits gained from acupuncture in terms of quality and quantity of life were more worthwhile, regardless of it being more expensive.
All patients who received acupuncture in the study claimed they felt lower pain levels and in result used fewer painkillers to those who received usual NHS care.
The different in pain scores between the groups was only small according to the study authors.
Nevertheless they said it represented a "clinically worthwhile benefit" and can be viewed as a "moderate" effect.
A spokeswoman from the Department of Health said that it was up to the local NHS service providers to decide when to provide acupuncture.
Chief executive of the British Acupuncture Council, Mike O'Farrell, said: "Our hope is that after regulation, which is probably 2008, the decision makers will have increased awareness and confidence to offer acupuncture more widely.
"Mike Cummings, medical director of the British Medical Acupuncture Society, cautioned that not everyone with back pain would benefit from acupuncture though.