accupuncture

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Acupuncture

What it is: A form of traditional Chinese medicine that involves having needles inserted at various points on the body to help rebalance the flow of your body's energy.

Science says: When nearly 18,000 adults with back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, chronic headaches, or shoulder pain received acupuncture treatments, their pain scores were reduced by about 50 percent, according to a review in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Although researchers don't know exactly why acupuncture has such a profound effect, one possible explanation is that it releases feel-good endorphins that dampen the pain response.

Best for: Neck, lower back, and shoulder pain; osteoarthritis and knee pain; chronic headaches.