Pardon the pun, but is there really a point to acupuncture?  I mean, really?  How can sharp needles placed at various pressure points in the body possibly resolve painful problems?  If anything, it sounds like it causes pain!

Well, a new study confirms that acupuncture does, indeed, reduce pain.

For thousands upon thousands of years, acupuncture’s been used to resolve some of life’s most irritating pain problems, whether it’s physical pain (from conditions like carpal tunnel and chronic earache), or mental pain that can cause physical pain (like depression and stress).

So what’s the latest thing acupuncture can add to its repertoire of relief?  Menstrual cramps.

According to researchers from the Kyung Hee University Medical Center in South Korea, acupuncture may be more effective in treating menstrual pain than conventional drugs or herbal medicines.

They discovered this after reviewing the case history of 27 studies involving 3,000 women who used various treatments for relief, some of those treatments including acupuncture.

Writing in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the researchers said, “Compared with pharmacological treatment or herbal medicine, acupuncture was associated with a significant reduction in pain.”  They came to this conclusion after comparing how people felt after acupuncture as opposed to medicinal salves.

Menstrual cramps, or abdominal pain women experience right around the time they have their period, are experienced by almost every post-pubescent female walking the earth.  The pangs of pain are usually minor, but they can be so severe that they interfere with life.  For example, a 2005 survey conducted by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists found that 60 percent of women had to see their doctor because the pain was so bad.  Ten percent of them had to take several days off from work!

Fortunately, there’s no shortage of treatments for menstrual cramping.  From over the counter medications like ibuprofen, to vitamin supplements like vitamin E, there’s a lot to choose from.  But if you’re looking for a natural treatment that’s backed by scientific evidence—and endorsed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health—acupuncture may be just the thing you need.

So to answer the question I started this article off with:  Yes, there is indeed a point to acupuncture.  Point-blank.