Acupuncture in Sports Injuries: What Does the Research Actually Say?
- Nazan Garcia
- May 27
- 4 min read
From elite athletes to recreational runners, sports injuries are common. Tendon pain, muscle strains, joint irritation and overload injuries can affect performance, recovery, and confidence in training. As interest in non-pharmaceutical treatment options continues to grow, acupuncture is increasingly being explored within sports medicine.
Research into acupuncture for sports injuries is still developing, but current evidence suggests it may play a useful role alongside exercise rehabilitation and load management in certain cases (Lee et al., 2020).
Why Research in Sports Medicine Is Often Difficult
When discussing evidence in sports medicine, it is important to recognise that not all treatments are equally easy to study.
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are often considered the gold standard in evidence based medicine, particularly for medications. However, treatments such as acupuncture, osteopathy and other forms of manual therapy are more difficult to standardise in research settings. Individual treatment approaches, practitioner skill, patient expectations, and the highly variable nature of sports injuries all make study design more complex.
Athletes themselves also present unique challenges in research. Training schedules, performance demands, psychological factors, and pressure to return to sport can make strict experimental conditions difficult to achieve (Lee et al., 2020).
This does not mean acupuncture or osteopathy are ineffective. Rather, it means the available research often needs to be interpreted carefully and within clinical context.
Exercise Rehabilitation Remains Central
Current evidence based sports medicine generally supports exercise rehabilitation, progressive loading, strength work and movement retraining as the foundation of treatment for many musculoskeletal injuries.
Acupuncture and osteopathy are usually viewed as adjunctive treatments rather than standalone solutions. They may help reduce pain, improve movement tolerance, decrease muscle tension, or support recovery sufficiently for rehabilitation exercises to be carried out more effectively.
That said, clinical practice is often more nuanced than research categories suggest. Some patients respond very well to acupuncture or hands-on treatment alone, particularly in acute or less complex presentations. Others may benefit most from a combined approach involving rehabilitation exercises, education, load modification and manual therapy.
What the Research Shows
A 2020 systematic review published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health analysed case reports and case series involving acupuncture treatment in athletes with sports injuries (Lee et al., 2020). The review included 211 athletes across a wide range of sports including basketball, running, football, golf, skiing and volleyball.
The injuries treated included:
Knee ligament injuries
Tendinopathies
Shoulder pain
Rotator cuff problems
Muscle strains
Sports hernias
Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)
Post-concussion symptoms
Persistent pain syndromes
The review found that acupuncture appeared to help with short-term pain relief, recovery of function, and return to sport in a number of cases. Reported adverse effects were minor and uncommon (Lee et al., 2020).
Importantly, the authors also acknowledged the limitations of the evidence. Most included studies were case reports rather than high quality controlled trials, meaning conclusions must remain cautious.
Acupuncture and Recovery From Exercise
Research has also explored whether acupuncture may influence recovery after intense exercise.
A review published in Sports Medicine and Health Science discussed acupuncture’s potential role in reducing pain sensitivity, influencing nervous system regulation, and modulating inflammatory responses following exercise (Wang et al., 2021). Proposed mechanisms include effects on endorphins, local circulation, autonomic nervous system activity and pain processing pathways.
Similarly, experimental studies have investigated acupuncture for delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), suggesting possible reductions in perceived soreness and improvements in muscle recovery markers following strenuous exercise (Tintoré et al., 2023; Han et al., 2020).
Although findings remain mixed and study quality varies, these mechanisms may help explain why some athletes report symptom relief or improved recovery following treatment.
Beyond Pain Relief
One interesting aspect of the literature is that acupuncture research in athletes extends beyond simple pain control.
The systematic review by Lee et al. (2020) identified reports involving issues such as golfer’s yips, post-concussion symptoms, fatigue, and persistent pain syndromes. This reflects the broader view increasingly seen in modern pain science, where recovery is influenced not only by tissue injury, but also by nervous system sensitivity, stress, sleep, fatigue, psychological factors and overall recovery capacity.
This does not mean acupuncture is a cure for complex conditions. However, it may offer one component within a broader management approach.
Where Acupuncture May Fit Clinically
In practice, acupuncture may be considered:
Alongside rehabilitation exercises
During painful or highly irritable stages of injury
When symptoms are limiting movement or training tolerance
As part of a multimodal treatment approach
When patients prefer conservative or non-pharmaceutical management
As with most areas of musculoskeletal care, treatment should ideally be individualised rather than protocol driven.
Final Thoughts
The current evidence does not suggest that acupuncture replaces rehabilitation, strength work or good sports medicine principles. However, research does indicate that it may provide meaningful symptom relief and support recovery in some athletes and active individuals.
Like many conservative treatments in musculoskeletal medicine, the challenge lies partly in the limitations of research methodology itself. Human movement, pain and recovery are complex, and treatments such as acupuncture or osteopathy do not always fit neatly into rigid experimental models.
At present, the most balanced interpretation is probably that acupuncture may be a useful adjunct within sports injury management, while recognising that individual responses can vary considerably.
References
Lee JW, Lee JH, Kim SY. Use of acupuncture for the treatment of sports-related injuries in athletes: A systematic review of case reports. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020;17(21):8226.
Wang C, Xu Y, Zhang Y, et al. Acupuncture and sports recovery: Potential mechanisms and clinical application. Sports Medicine and Health Science. 2021;3(3):140-147.
Tintoré M, Montinari MR, Traversi G, et al. Acupuncture and delayed onset muscle soreness in athletes: Current evidence and future perspectives. Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies. 2023;16(6):239-246.
Han J, Wang Q, Li X, et al. Effects of acupuncture on exercise-induced fatigue and recovery mechanisms. Frontiers in Physiology. 2020;11:666.
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