Improving acupuncture research: progress, guidance, and future directions

Conventional allopathic medicine-medications and surgery used in conventional systems of medicine to treat or prevent disease-is often expensive, can cause side effects and harm, and is not always the optimal treatment for long term conditions such as chronic pain. 1 Where conventional treatments have not been successful, acupuncture and other traditional and complementary medicines have potential to play a role in optimal patient care.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) 2019 global report, acupuncture is widely used across the world. 2 In some countries acupuncture is covered by health insurance and established regulations.In the US, practitioners administer over 10 million acupuncture treatments annually.3 In the UK, clinicians administer over 4 million acupuncture treatments annually, and it is provided on the NHS.