Have a sore throat? No worries! No need for lozenges, medicines, or home remedies. All you need to do is let someone stick needles in your ear! According to a recent study, ear acupuncture relieves sore throats. Do you believe that? I don’t. That’s one of those extraordinary claims that would require extraordinary evidence, but the researchers didn’t even provide ordinary evidence. The study is a great example of how not to do science.
Acupuncture theory is based on a prescientific vitalistic concept: an unmeasurable, undetectable energy called “qi” supposedly flows through meridians and can be accessed at acupoints, where needle stimulation is supposed to somehow unblock the flow of qi, which is somehow supposed to relieve pain and improve health. Qi, meridians, and acupoints are imaginary, but that doesn’t necessarily mean acupuncture can’t possibly work. It’s not implausible that sticking needles into the skin might have some physiologic effects, so it is reasonable to do scientific studies—and thousands of studies have been done, some better than others. The results have been disappointing. It is not reasonable to conclude from the existing published studies that acupuncture works.