A particular branch of acupuncture, known as abdominal acupuncture, is effective for neck pain according to researchers in Hong Kong. In a randomised trial, 154 participants with neck pain, aged 18 to 65, were randomly allocated to receive either abdominal acupuncture or a sham equivalent, for six sessions over a two week period. At the end of the treatment period and also four weeks later, the real treatment group exhibited a greater improvement in neck pain. This difference was even more significant three months after treatment had ended. Patients in the true treatment group also had some significantly better quality-of-life scores compared with those in the sham group.
(Efficacy of abdominal acupuncture for neck pain: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One, July 2017.)