The study’s objective is to evaluate the clinical effect and application of acupuncture treatment for shoulder pain disorders in terms of effectiveness and safety. A narrative review of RCTs in which acupuncture was used as an intervention for patients with shoulder pain disorders (SPD) was conducted. All randomised controlled trials that evaluate the effects of acupuncture for shoulder pain disorders compared with controls were included. The primary outcomes were pain and shoulder function. Based on the inclusive and exclusive criteria, 22 randomised control trials involving 1801 participants that evaluated the effects of acupuncture for various shoulder pain disorders were retrieved from various databases, and the intervention and results were examined. Eleven studies found that acupuncture treatment had significantly greater effects when compared with other therapies or treatments. Nine studies showed that, when combined with other therapies or treatments, the acupuncture group showed a better therapeutic effect than the therapy group itself. The results also show that acupuncture treatment can produce the same therapeutic effects as physical therapy, manual therapy, the uses of tropical NSAIDs, oral medications, and corticosteroid injections. No serious adverse events were observed. The findings indicated that acupuncture could be a safe and effective treatment for shoulder pain disorders by reducing pain and restoring shoulder functions. The results are consistent with those of past literature reviews. Although there is some evidence for the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for shoulder pain disorders, the level of evidence is still low. Due to several limitations and heterogeneity, the results are inconclusive, and therefore the findings need to be interpreted with caution. Future large-scale studies should be more rigorous and well-designed RCTs with high-quality studies, a longer study duration with more subjects, an ideal standardised treatment regimen, and transparent reporting. Keywords: Acupuncture, Shoulder pain, Shoulder disorders, Acupuncture safety, Alternatives therapies, Traditional Chinese medicine, Pain relief.

Chronic shoulder pain is one of the most common presentations of musculoskeletal pain in our community, which usually complicates or interferes with a person’s daily activities, social events, and overall quality of life. It is the leading cause of disability among middle-aged working individuals. It has been reported that until the present day, none of the conventional treatments has proved effective for chronic shoulder pain in the long term. Furthermore, there are considerable side effects, to varying degrees of these treatments. Acupuncture, as part of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has shown effective results in treating shoulder pain by minimizing the pain and improving range of motion and mobility. The present case involves four patients diagnosed with non-traumatic chronic shoulder pain. All the patients were given three acupuncture treatments per week, lasting 40 minutes for the duration of two weeks. Needling was inserted at six specific acupoints and five specific non-acupoints. Pain and mobility assessments were done before and twenty minutes after each treatment. The result shows positive effects of acupuncture using specific acupoints and specific non-acupoints in alleviating non-traumatic chronic shoulder pain. At the end of this study, their shoulder pain was greatly minimized, and their shoulder functionality improved remarkably. Although larger clinical intervention studies on the effect of acupuncture treatment on chronic shoulder pain due to non-traumatic injury are needed, the result of this case study indicates that acupuncture treatment using specific acupoints and specific non-acupoints can be an effective alternative therapy or treatment tool for patients with non-traumatic chronic shoulder pain.