For weeks, Nathan Suver had a serious pain in the neck. It was a recurring problem, related to a back injury, and nothing made it go away. Until, that is, his doctor jabbed him with pins. "He did it as part of a routine visit," recalls Suver, a 35-year-old software developer from Southington, Connecticut. "He has acupuncture training. He just said, 'This will help with the pain,' and stuck 10 little needles in me. He first put one in my neck, and then one in my wrist. It felt like lightning shooting through my body from my neck to my wrist. But it was actually only slightly uncomfortable."

Science says: Acupuncture's ability to combat basic stress may be a key part of its effectiveness with gastrointestinal disorders, says Tony Chon, M.D., chairman of the acupuncture practice at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. "We know there's a strong link between stress and some GI symptoms, including indigestion," Dr. Chon says, "and acupuncture has been used for centuries for relief and treatment."

Men’s Health by Jen Matlack November 2009

Tags: acupuncture, Complementary/Alternative Medicine, indigestion