A major new review of acupuncture research has just been published: The State of Evidence in Acupuncture: A Review of Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews of Acupuncture Evidence (Update 2017–2022). This is the most comprehensive and up-to-date summary of acupuncture research available, bringing together findings from hundreds of high-quality studies.
For acupuncturists and patients alike, having this research compiled into one review is incredibly valuable. Instead of spending hours (or years!) sifting through individual studies, we can quickly see what conditions have strong supporting evidence and where further research is needed.
Strong Evidence for Acupuncture
This latest review confirms that acupuncture has strong evidence of positive effects for the following conditions:
-
Female infertility
-
Menopause symptoms
-
Chronic pain (back or neck pain, shoulder pain, chronic headache or osteoarthritis pain)
-
Low-back pain
-
Knee osteoarthritis
-
Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV)
-
Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV)
-
Cancer-related fatigue
-
Chronic prostatitis (and pelvic pain)
-
Allergic rhinitis
-
Postoperative pain
-
Migraine prophylaxis
-
Tension-type headache
Many of these conditions align closely with our focus areas—particularly female fertility and menopausal support, pelvic pain, and migraine relief.
It’s fantastic to see such strong research backing up the work we do every day in the clinic!
Newer Conditions with Positive Evidence
The review also highlighted a growing body of research supporting acupuncture’s positive effects for several other conditions, including:
-
Breech presentation
-
Chronic pelvic pain
-
Dysmenorrhea (painful periods)
-
Endometriosis
-
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) support
-
Labour pain*
-
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)
-
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
These findings are particularly exciting for us, as they reinforce what we see in practice – acupuncture as a valuable tool in women’s health, fertility, pregnancy and labour preparation.
Acupuncture is Safe
Another important takeaway from this review is that acupuncture is a safe treatment when performed by a trained practitioner. This has been consistently confirmed across multiple reviews, and it’s reassuring to see this reinforced once again. As always, we encourage people to seek treatment from a degree-qualified and AHPRA registered acupuncturist to ensure proper technique and safety.
The Scale of This Research
This new review builds upon the groundbreaking Acupuncture Evidence Project, which was first published by John McDonald and Stephen Janz in 2017. That original project reviewed 168 systematic reviews and meta-analyses from 2013 to 2016.
In this new update, Dr Moritz Hempen and Dr Josef Hummelsberger analysed a staggering 862 systematic reviews and meta-analyses published between 2017 and 2022. The sheer volume of research being produced on acupuncture is growing at an incredible rate—by 2023, there were already over 1,000 systematic reviews and meta-analyses!
Dr Hempen presented the preliminary findings at the Acupuncture Evidence Conference in Vienna in April 2024, where he shared some of the challenges he and Dr Hummelsberger faced in undertaking this massive review. These were similar to those experienced by John McDonald and Stephen Janz in compiling the first Acupuncture Evidence Project.
We want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank John McDonald, a teacher to all of our Yin practitioners, for his contributions to acupuncture research. His work in the first Acupuncture Evidence Project laid the foundation for this updated review. And of course, Stephen Janz deserves recognition as a co-author of the original report.
More Research Needed (the more the better) – But We’re Excited!
While this latest review is incredibly comprehensive, there are still many areas where more research is needed. There are conditions we love treating in clinic—like plantar fasciitis and haemorrhoids in pregnancy – where we see great results, but the research just hasn’t caught up yet.
It’s also important to note that this review was such a massive undertaking that it only includes studies up to 2022. That means over two years of more recent studies haven’t been included yet. We love to track acupuncture research as it comes out, and we know that even more positive evidence for acupuncture has emerged since 2022. We’re already excited for the next edition and can’t wait to see how the field of acupuncture evidence continues to grow!
References:
Hempen M, Hummelsberger J. The state of evidence in acupuncture: A review of metaanalyses and systematic reviews of acupuncture evidence (update 2017–2022). Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2025
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096522992500024X?via%3Dihub#sec0055
McDonald J, Janz S. The Acupuncture Evidence Project: A Comparative
Literature Review (Revised edition). Brisbane: Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association Ltd; 2017.
https://acupuncture.org.au/publicassets/1c94b136-802d-ed11-9115-00505687f2af/Acupuncture-Evidence-Project_Mcdonald-and-Janz_-Revised-Edition-07-02-17-Referenced.pdf