Sham acupressure controls used in randomized controlled trials: A systematic review and critique (2024)

FAQs

What is sham acupressure? ›

An inactive procedure that is designed to mimic as closely as possible the active procedure being studied in a clinical trial. For example, in sham acupuncture, needles that look and feel like the needles used in active acupuncture therapy are used except the needles are not actually inserted into the skin.

No physiologic improvements resulted from sham acupuncture. Even after years of clinical research, controversy continues as to whether acupuncture works primarily by the placebo effect, especially given the slight differences between the efficacy of real and sham acupuncture.

The authors' statement that “trials using sham acupuncture may underestimate acupuncture's treatment effect” only holds true for sham needling using superficial penetration, but it does not hold true when using skin-touch placebo needles.

Sham acupuncture refers to sham manual acupuncture, sham electroacupuncture, sham laser acupuncture, and sham transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)/sham transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS).

Placebo and sham treatment are methods used in medical trials to help researchers determine the effectiveness of a drug or treatment. Placebos are inactive substances used to compare results with active substances. And in sham treatments, the doctor goes through the motions without actually performing the treatment.

Modern scientists have investigated the reasons why acupressure works. They found that applying pressure to certain areas of the body can stimulate nerves. Stimulating certain nerves may help reduce the sensation of pain. Researchers also found that acupressure reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Key takeaways: Acupressure is one of the focal treatment methods used in traditional Chinese Medicine. Research around this ancient form of massage is limited. However, some initial findings suggest it can help alleviate pain and discomfort caused by a host of conditions.

The placebo control procedures most commonly used include minimal or superficial acupuncture (needling of the skin), sham acupuncture (deep or superficial needling of non-acupuncture points) and the use of placebo acupuncture needles (a blunt tip of a needle touches the skin without penetrating it) [1–3].

Studies have shown that acupuncture is effective alone or when used with conventional therapies to treat these conditions: Upset stomach (nausea) caused by surgical anesthesia and cancer chemotherapy. Dental pain after surgery. Addiction.

The FDA in 1973, declared acupuncture to be a method of treatment for investigational use by licensed practitioners only until “substantial scientific evidence is obtained by valid research studies supporting the safety and therapeutic usefulness of acupuncture devices”.

What is the controversy with acupuncture? ›

The notion that acupuncture points should be defined “energetically,” rather than anatomically, is controversial. This concept is linked to the idea that acupuncture points could correspond to areas of decreased electrical resistance compared with surrounding tissues, likes nodes on an electrical grid.

Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery.

Summary effect estimates for each biomarker between groups were calculated with a random effect model. Results: From 51 sham acupuncture trials, we found that there were no significant differences in most of the 36 serum biomarkers after sham acupuncture and verum acupuncture needling.

What is the difference between acupuncture and acupressure? While acupuncture uses needles inserted into the skin, acupressure uses pressure applied to specific areas of the body. The pressure is usually applied by hand or another body part, but acupressure seeds or other specialized tools can also be used.

In general, a sham intravitreal injection is a procedure that mimics a real intravitreal injection but does not penetrate the eye. In contrast, some studies use a placebo intravitreal injection, in which an inert substance like saline is injected into the vitreous.

A sham cupping device was developed by establishing a small hole to reduce the negative pressure after suction such that inner pressure could not be maintained in the cup.

Results: When the procedure in question is found to be ineffective, sham trials typically result in a net benefit to participants because some participants are only exposed to the harms of the sham procedure, which are much lower than the harms of the full procedure.