Some mornings, your back hurts so much that you think a herd of elephant must have stomped on you while you were sleeping.

So what are your treatment options?

You could load up on painkillers, pay a visit to your local chiropractor, or just suffer in silence until the agonizing pain goes away. Or you could try acupuncture, the ancient Chinese healing remedy that involves pricking your skin with needles.

Are you a little skeptical about the health benefits of turning yourself into a human pincushion? Don't be: Even if you don't believe in all the alleged healing properties of acupuncture, recent scientific evidence proves that both real and fake acupuncture treatments provide better back pain relief than traditional Western medicine.

In studies, patients were pricked by thin needles – some in the traditional methods of acupuncture, some not. In both cases, the patients felt significantly better than those who took painkillers.

Researchers say the pain-killing properties of the needles may be due to a placebo effect, or it could be that the needles' sensation distracts patients from their pain. Either way, next time you wrench your back, you'll know to skip the Advil and hobble straight over to your nearest acupuncturist (though maybe a tattoo artist would work just as well).

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