November 29 , 2023 
As a profession, Chinese Medicine practitioners in Australia are operating within a legal framework. We are registered under the jurisdiction the Australian Health Practitioners Registration Agency (AHPRA). Under AHPRA’s Advertising Guidelines we are not allowed to use testimonials, we are not allowed to create an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment and we are not allowed to make claims which are not supported by reputable scientific evidence.
Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of conditions. Not all of these conditions have established an acceptable level of scientific evidence for efficacy, however the landscape is changing dramatically as more and more studies are published demonstrating evidence of acupuncture’s effectiveness. The following categories provide a summary of the current status of acupuncture evidence. But please keep in mind that ‘lack of evidence of efficacy’ is not the same thing as ‘evidence of lack of efficacy’.
Level One – Evidence of Positive Effect
This level of evidence demonstrates consistent, statistically significant, positive effect:
Level Two – Evidence of Potential Positive Effect
Conditions with this level of evidence have moderate support of efficacy, but insufficient to make definitive conclusions:
Level Three – Weak or Unclear Evidence of Efficacy
This level of evidence is applied to conditions that have not yet shown clear, consistent results. Keep in mind that any single study demonstrating a positive effect is insufficient; it is only after a series of consistent studies that science will draw a positive conclusion.
Level Four – Little or No Evidence
The quality of the evidence for the following conditions is consistently low or very low. Further research required.
Pain relief is the most common reason for seeking medical attention. For some people pain may be temporary and easy to tolerate, but for many others it can be severe or unrelenting or both. If you have a body, then you will be familiar with the experience of pain. The good news is that, although pain is inevitable, suffering is optional! …
The current global COVID-19 pandemic has led to high levels of anxiety in the community; many people are looking to Chinese Herbal Medicine for its potential to boost immunity and manage symptoms, especially for fevers, sore throats and respiratory dysfunction. The question is, can Chinese Herbal Medicine treat the symptoms of COVID-19?
Dry Needling or Acupuncture – What’s the Difference? You’ve all heard the old saying: if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and sounds like a duck … it’s a duck! Well I have to tell you that anyone doing dry needling uses acupuncture needles, just like an acupuncturist, and they insert the
