Pain is the most common reason for people to use complementary and alternative medicine. An analysis of the 13 highest quality studies of pain treatment with acupuncture, published in January 2009, concluded there is little difference in the effect of real, sham and no acupuncture. However other reviews have found benefit. Additionally, there is tentative evidence for a few herbal medicine. There is interest in the relationship between vitamin D and pain, but the evidence so far from controlled trials for such a relationship, other than in osteomalacia, is unconvincing.
What was the treatment method of the 9 studies published in 2013?