Key takeaway
A brochure can make needles sound like the treatment. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says there is not enough consistent evidence to use acupuncture for substance use outcomes. Some low-quality findings look at withdrawal, craving, or anxiety as an add-on. Ask whether the session is optional, and whether counseling and any indicated medicine stay in the plan.
Last updated: Mon Oct 05 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
A brochure is treating the needles as the treatment, and you are tempted to skip the medicine that was actually prescribed. Ask whether acupuncture is optional. Ask whether counseling stays in the plan, and whether a prescribed medicine stays too.
If someone will not wake, is having a seizure, or cannot breathe, call 911. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988. Do not stop a benzodiazepine because a session felt calming. The FDA says an abrupt stop, or cutting the dose too quickly, can cause seizures that can be life-threatening. Read detox at home versus a medical setting before anyone stops alcohol at home.
What the evidence actually supports
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health says there is not enough consistent data to support acupuncture for substance use outcomes. Some low-quality findings suggest it might help withdrawal, craving, or anxiety as an add-on. An add-on is not the treatment.
The broad review behind that summary did not support acupuncture for substance use outcomes. A later alcohol review looked more hopeful and still did not support a firm conclusion. Smoking studies did not show a consistent benefit lasting six months or more. The trial counts are in the questions below. They are not a personal plan, and they are not a dose of any medicine. Approved cessation care during rehab is in tobacco cessation.
A smaller veteran study is easy to overread. Craving and anxiety fell after one session of acupuncture or one session of relaxation. NIH reads that as a hint that showing up regularly for either one might have some value. It does not say the needles were the ingredient relaxation lacked.
Keep the medicine and the counseling
NIDA says no single treatment is right for everyone, and that medication should be first-line treatment for opioid addiction, usually combined with counseling. Medicines also exist for alcohol and for nicotine. For some other substances, no medicines are currently available, so care is behavioral and matched to the person. Acupuncture is not on that list of medicines.
If a program offers needles, ask what they sit beside. Read methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone before you stop one because a session felt calming. Do not skip a prescribed alcohol medicine for the same reason. Anxiety or depression that shows up beside substance use needs its own plan, in dual diagnosis treatment. Attention practice is a different extra, in mindfulness. Read music therapy if that is the extra on offer. A brochure that says holistic has not answered what is required. Read what holistic is being asked to mean.
Ask who holds the needle
Relatively few complications have been reported to the FDA, given how many people are treated. Complications have still come from needles that were not sterile and from improper delivery, including infections and punctured organs. Ask who is trained, what license they hold, and whether the needles are sterile and single-use. Tell them about pregnancy, a bleeding problem, a medicine that affects clotting, or a fear of needles that would make the session a bad idea. Placement and depth belong with that person.
On the phone, ask whether acupuncture is offered, optional, or treated as the treatment itself. Ask whether declining the needles changes the rest of the plan. Questions worth taking to admissions are collected in what to ask before you go.
Search FindTreatment.gov. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding a program and sorting which extras are actually offered.
Additional Resources
Sources cited on this page:
- NCCIH Clinical Digest: Psychological and Physical Approaches for Substance Use Disorders (April 2024)
- NIDA: Treatment and Recovery
- FDA: Boxed warning to improve safe use of benzodiazepines
- SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Common Questions
Will acupuncture treat a substance use disorder?
NIH's 2024 clinical digest says there is not enough consistent data to support acupuncture for substance use outcomes. A 2016 review of 41 studies and 5,227 participants did not support it for those outcomes. Some findings favored acupuncture for withdrawal, craving, or anxiety, and NIH says that evidence is low quality. Medicines and counseling, when they fit, stay the core.
What about alcohol cravings or smoking?
A 2023 review of 16 trials and 1,097 people with alcohol use disorder found that adding acupoint stimulation to psychotherapy or drug therapy was linked with less craving, less severe withdrawal, and better anxiety and depression scores than those therapies alone. NIH says the trials were low quality, so firm conclusions could not be drawn. A 2014 Cochrane review of 38 smoking trials found no consistent evidence of a benefit lasting six months or more. Cessation care during rehab is the tobacco guide.
Did acupuncture beat relaxation in the veteran study?
The digest describes a 2014 trial of 67 military veterans in recovery. Craving and anxiety fell after a single session of acupuncture or a single session of relaxation. NIH reads that as a hint that regular sessions of either one might have some value. It does not say the needles beat relaxation. One session is not a program.
Is acupuncture safe?
NIH says relatively few complications have been reported to the FDA, given how many people are treated and how many needles are used. Complications have still come from needles that were not sterile and from treatment that was not delivered properly. Infections and punctured organs are among the serious effects when delivery is wrong. Ask who is trained, whether needles are sterile and single-use, and what changes if you are pregnant, on a blood thinner, or afraid of needles.
Can I use acupuncture instead of detox or medication?
No. Stopping a benzodiazepine abruptly can cause seizures and can be life-threatening. Opioid medicines have their own page, without doses here. If a program offers acupuncture, ask whether it is an extra hour beside counseling and, when a medicine is indicated, a prescriber. If someone will not wake, is having a seizure, or cannot breathe, call 911.