According to the World Health Organization, the diseases or disorders for which acupuncture therapy has been tested in controlled clinical trials reported in the recent literature can be classified into four categories as shown below.

Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved—through controlled trials—to be an effective treatment

  • 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

  • Dysmenorrhea, 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 white blood cell count)

  • 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 (including frozen shoulder)

  • Postoperative pain

  • Renal colic

  • Rheumatoid arthritis

  • Sciatica

  • Sprain

  • Stroke

  • Tennis elbow

Chinese herbs — traditionally, herbs were a key—and often, the main—part of therapy. Here, only the conditions that respond solely due to acupuncture get listed. As you might guess, adding in herbal and dietary recommendations to therapy with needles can greatly improve the overall positive results.

Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown but for which further proof is needed

  • 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)

Treatment with needles — the classical approach utilized the right tool for the right job; needles are especially good for balancing systems that are dysregulated—for instance, chronic conditions.

Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which there are only individual controlled trials reporting some therapeutic effects, but for which acupuncture is worth trying because treatment by conventional and other therapies is difficult

  • Chloasma

  • Choroidopathy, central serous

  • Colour blindness

  • Deafness

  • Hypophrenia

  • Irritable colon syndrome

  • Neuropathic bladder in spinal cord injury

  • Pulmonary heart disease, chronic

  • Small airway obstruction

Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture may be tried provided the practitioner has special modern medical knowledge and adequate monitoring equipment

  • Breathlessness in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

  • Coma

  • Convulsions in infants

  • Coronary heart disease (angina pectoris)

  • Diarrhea in infants and young children

  • Encephalitis, viral, in children, late stage

  • Paralysis, progressive bulbar and pseudobulbar

what about class iv laser? can it help, too?

Great question! And the answer depends upon whom you ask. It ranges across a spectrum: the most conservative answer follows current FDA guidelines since class IV laser only gets reimbursed through insurance for these categories. As listed before, this means most physical ailments related to the musculoskeletal system.

Aspen Apex Class IV laser — what we use for treatments. In general, class IV lasers are the tool of choice in most modern pain and neuropathy clinics. Why? Simply, they work and they are safe.

However, in the middle part of the rainbow—which is where most chiropractors, osteopaths, acupuncturists and other alternative medicine professionals live—the general consensus tends toward being unanimously “outside the box.” That is, most licensed complementary health professionals recognize that a class IV laser can promote a lot more healing for a person than just for physical aches and pains.

Due to professional regulations, insurance considerations, and the like, not all alternative practitioners will use a laser outside of the boundaries defined by the FDA. Still, most health professionals do acknowledge that this type of laser can indeed encourage systemic levels of healing and improvement. As an example, a large body of research shows that class IV laser therapy can stimulate the growth of certain types of stem cells.

In short, at Palm Beach Oriental Medicine, the class IV laser can be used for off-label applications but only those where a body of solid research already exists to validate the potential benefits. This sounds tame but it is not: there are dozens of applications from organ dysfunction to systemic and chronic issues where research already demonstrates positive value and gains from consistent class IV laser treatments.

Research always precedes governmental approval. This means that these lasers will generally be supportive for both officially sanctioned and off-label applications. But, remember that insurance firms do not reimburse for off-label applications. If interested, just enquire when you make an appointment or when you contact us for further details.