Randomised controlled trial of contralateral manual acupuncture for the relief of chronic shoulder pain

80 patients with chronic shoulder pain were randomized to receive either contralateral manual acupuncture therapy or conventional orthopaedic therapy (waiting list control) for the purpose of comparing effects on pain, shoulder mobility, and function after 4 weeks of allocated therapy. Results demonstrated that patients in the acupuncture group had significantly improved pain, function and mobility scores when compared at 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks. Several subscales of the SF-36 score were additionally improved for acupuncture patients at 8 weeks.