Several well-known figures have turned to acupuncture for pain and congestion relief, from Hollywood actors to world leaders. The practice has a long history in traditional Chinese medicine and has gained mainstream acceptance partly because public figures have been open about their experiences with it.
Celebrities Who Used Acupuncture for Pain
Matt Damon was photographed with acupuncture needles in his ear after a severe neck and back spasm. His representative confirmed it was acupuncture treatment for the muscle pain. Paula Abdul, who has dealt with chronic pain from injuries sustained in a plane crash, has spoken publicly about receiving acupuncture several times a week for pain and nerve issues. She discussed her treatment routine in an interview on Nightline.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo that acupuncture “cured his arthritis of the shoulder with some tiny needles.” Gwen Stefani reportedly began acupuncture to treat severe migraine headaches she experienced during her pregnancies. Even Marilyn Monroe received acupuncture: during her Tokyo honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio, she developed severe stomach cramps, and DiMaggio arranged for a Japanese practitioner to treat her.
Oprah Winfrey is such a strong believer in the practice that she arranged $500 acupuncture sessions for her dog, who had tightness on one side of its body.
Who Seeks Acupuncture Most Often
It’s not just celebrities. A cross-sectional study of over 460 patients at traditional Chinese medicine practices found that 60% were women and 57% were age 50 or older. The most common reasons for seeking treatment were musculoskeletal disorders (33%) and chronic pain (32%). This pattern holds globally: women and older adults use complementary medicine more frequently, likely because they carry a higher burden of chronic conditions. Acupuncture was the predominant treatment used, accounting for nearly 96% of sessions in the study.
How Acupuncture Relieves Pain
Acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects work through several overlapping mechanisms. One involves the gate control theory of pain: inserting a needle stimulates larger sensory nerve fibers that effectively block pain signals carried by smaller fibers before those signals reach the brain. Think of it as a faster message crowding out a slower one at a bottleneck in the spinal cord.
The other major mechanism involves your body’s own painkillers. Needle insertion triggers the release of endorphins and other natural opioid-like chemicals at three levels: the spinal cord, the midbrain, and the pituitary gland. Researchers confirmed this by administering naloxone, a drug that blocks opioid receptors, and watching acupuncture’s pain relief disappear. The treatment also increases serotonin and norepinephrine activity, which contributes to the mood-lifting effect many patients report alongside pain reduction.
How It Works for Congestion
For nasal congestion and sinus issues, acupuncture acts on different pathways. It modulates the autonomic nervous system, the network that controls involuntary functions like blood vessel dilation in the nasal passages. By calming sympathetic nerve activity and supporting parasympathetic function, it can reduce the swelling and inflammation that make your nose feel blocked.
On the immune side, acupuncture shifts the balance of immune cell activity away from the overreactive state that drives allergies. It dials down the immune cells responsible for producing inflammatory chemicals while boosting the cells that release anti-inflammatory signals. In animal studies, acupuncture treatment significantly reduced sneezing frequency, nasal secretion, and itching scores. Levels of allergy-related antibodies in the blood dropped, while markers of healthy immune regulation increased. The World Health Organization lists bronchitis and bronchial asthma among conditions for which acupuncture is considered effective.
What Clinical Trials Show for Sinus Congestion
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 randomized controlled trials found that acupuncture, whether used alone or alongside conventional treatment, produced significant improvements in pain severity and quality of life for people with chronic sinus inflammation compared to conventional treatment alone. Pain scores on a standard visual scale dropped by about 2 points (on a 10-point scale) more in the acupuncture group than in the conventional treatment group.
The picture is not entirely clear-cut, however. One trial comparing acupuncture, sham acupuncture (needles placed at non-therapeutic points), and standard care for chronic sinusitis found that all three groups improved over 12 weeks, with no statistically significant difference between them. This suggests that some of the benefit may come from the placebo effect or from the natural course of symptoms improving over time. The strongest evidence supports acupuncture as an add-on to standard treatment rather than a replacement for it.
What to Expect During Treatment
Most protocols for pain and congestion involve one to two sessions per week. For sinus conditions, clinical trials typically run six to twelve sessions before evaluating results. Patients generally report high satisfaction after about six treatments. For chronic pain conditions like back pain or arthritis, treatment courses can be longer, and some people (like Paula Abdul) maintain ongoing sessions several times a week.
Acupuncture is considered safe when performed by a trained practitioner, but there are specific considerations for facial and head points used in congestion treatment. Needles placed near the face require care to avoid nerves and blood vessels. Points on the scalp carry a slightly higher infection risk because hair makes it harder to maintain sterile conditions. Choosing a licensed, experienced practitioner minimizes these risks substantially.