Biopuncture is primarily used to treat acute and chronic musculoskeletal problems and sports injuries.

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What is biopuncture? Biopuncture is an injection therapy in which specific body zones or points are injected with highly diluted natural products, the majority of which are derived from plants, in order to regulate inflammatory processes and support natural repair mechanisms. Most of these injections are given into the skin or muscles.

As a specific injection method, biopuncture is distinct from other injection methods applied in medical practice, including other natural injection therapies such as neural therapy, mesotherapy, and prolotherapy, among others. Although biopuncture has been used in Germany for more than 50 years, the actual term wasn’t introduced until 1991 in Belgium. Today, practitioners all over the world offer biopuncture.

What Is Biopuncture Used For?

Biopuncture is used primarily to treat acute and chronic musculoskeletal problems and sports injuries. Biopuncturists commonly treat such problems as neck pain, back pain, ankle sprains, muscle tears, tennis elbow, whiplash, and Achilles tendinopathy.

Biopuncture also can be used to treat non-musculoskeletal disorders such as allergies, asthma, headaches, eczema, bronchitis, gastritis, sinusitis, and numerous other kinds of inflammatory conditions.

How Does Biopuncture Work?

Biopuncture is referred to as a “bioregulatory” therapy. Bioregulatory medicine is a practice that has grown out of the homeopathic medical tradition in Europe, primarily Germany. Its objective is to restore normal functioning of the autoregulating systems that steer the basic physiological processes in the body. The body’s numerous autoregulating systems each have their own set points, and the autoregulating process fluctuates to maintain homeostasis near that set point.

Disease occurs when an autoregulating system is no longer oscillating near the set point. The goal of biopuncture is to restore autoregulation using the stimulus of injection.

While more research into exactly how biopuncture works is needed, studies indicate that biopuncture may work by stimulating your immune system to restart its innate healing capacities—improved local blood circulation, tissue repair, relaxation of muscles, or local detoxification, for example. The results of a scientific investigation published in Clinical & Developmental Immunology showed that one commonly used biopuncture medicine known as Traumeel works via the immune system by inhibiting the pro-inflammatory compounds IL-1ß and TNF-alpha.

What Is Injected During Biopuncture?

The natural compounds that are injected during biopuncture are medicines that have bioregulatory characteristics. They are sterile, highly dilute preparations considered low-dose or even ultra-low-dose compared to medications used in conventional medicine, although they are not diluted as much as in traditional homeopathy.

The molecular concentrations of the constituents used are too low to be toxic or to suppress any physiologic function. Instead of a single ingredient, mixtures of multiple natural products are always injected. Many of the sterile mixtures used are manufactured by the German company Heel and include Lymphomyosot for lymphatic drainage, Traumeel for inflammations and sports injuries, and Spascupreel for muscular cramps.

Practitioners also may inject additional products such as hyaluronic acid to treat cartilage damage, local anesthetics like procaine and lidocaine to make the injections less painful, and dextrose to stimulate healing of damaged connective tissue.

Where Are the Injections Given?

The location of a bipuncture injection is said to be as important as the choice of the medication itself. The products can be injected into muscles, connective tissue, ligaments, periosteum, reflex zones, pain points, and trigger points.

Is Biopuncture Safe?

Biopuncture is considered a safe form of therapy. Toxic side effects are very unlikely because of the diluted nature of the products. Additionally, the sterile products used in biopuncture are manufactured into single dose packages called ampoules. The ampoules are made mostly by German companies that are held to very strict quality control regulations. Only sterile disposable needles are used. It is possible to experience a bruise, discoloration, or some pain at the site of injection the next day. You may even experience more pain or discomfort the day after the injection, but this is considered a normal healing reaction and is temporary. With chronic conditions, there may be improvement after one or two sessions, which is then followed by a temporary worsening for a few weeks before (lasting) improvement is finally achieved.

Has Biopuncture Been Studied?

In a clinical study involving 138 primary care patients in Germany, biopuncture using Traumeel was as effective as NSAID therapy in terms of pain management and restoration of mobility in patients with tennis elbow.

In fact, Traumeel was superior to NSAID therapy on certain variables such as pain at rest and some aspects of mobility. Overall, 71 percent of patients in the Traumeel group versus 44 percent of patients receiving NSAIDs rated the results as “very good” or “good.”

In another study, patients still suffering from a high level of pain after breast cancer therapy despite using conventional analgesics were treated with biopuncture using Traumeel plus procaine to reduce injection site pain. After weekly biopuncture sessions for three to 10 weeks, patients’ pain significantly decreased, from an average of 7.6 to 2.4 on a scale from 1 to 10. In both studies, biopuncture was very well tolerated.

[1] Altern Ther Health Med. 2010 Jan-Feb;16(1):54-9.
[2] Clin Dev Immun. 2004; 11(2):143-149.
[3] International Academy of Biopuncture. http://www.iabp-online.com/. Accessed 12-9-13.
[4] Intro Bioreg Med. Thieme, Stuttgart, 2009. (ISBN 978-3-13-147611-1).
[5] J Biomed Therap. 2008; 2(2):10-12.

Originally published in 2013, this post is regularly updated.