MUNICH, Germany, Jun 28, 2001 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Scientists have found that when it comes to chronic neck pain, acupuncture works better than massage in the short term.

A study published in this Friday's issue of the British Medical Journal and authored by Dr. Dominik Irnich of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich compared three treatments among 177 patients ages 18 to 85.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive five treatments during three weeks of acupuncture, massage or a sham laser acupuncture treatment.

One week after treatments, researchers report, the acupuncture group showed a significant improvement in pain reduction and motion compared to others.

Surprisingly, those receiving sham therapy at first also reported feeling better than the massage group but not as good as the real acupuncture group. Laser acupuncture did not stimulate any points on the body as real acupuncture can, so researchers said this finding might have been a placebo effect.

After three months, however, researchers said there were no differences among the three groups, which they said is consistent with previous findings showing acupuncture to be effective for short-term gains but not for the long term.

Researchers also added it is unclear what the optimal number of acupuncture treatments might be to achieve longer-lasting benefits.

Why acupuncture works remains a mystery and its mechanism has never been fully explained to the satisfaction of some Western physicians.

"Massage and acupuncture both have local effects," Irnich told United Press International, "but acupuncture seems to have also general effects on health promotion. Results of basic research indicate that needle acupuncture has complex multisystem effects."

These multisystem effects, Irnich added, include inducing endorphins, chemicals in the brain that can help cope with pain, and stimulating the nervous system.

David Molony, a licensed acupuncturist and the executive director of the American Association of Oriental Medicine based in Catatsauqua, Penn., echoed Irnich's opinion.

"With massage you can treat one point at a time," Molony told UPI. "You cannot treat at a deeper level. You can't manipulate the chi (Chinese term for the body's energy) with massage as you can with the needle."

Acupuncture vs. massage for treating pain has been widely debated with some practitioners claiming acupuncture does a better job at triggering the body's own natural healing mechanisms. However, a study recently published in Archives of Internal Medicine found massage was more effective than acupuncture in treating low back pain.

From Healthy.net