Qigong for Back Pain: What Studies Show

The short version

US guidelines favor exercise: the American College of Physicians advises starting chronic low back pain care with exercise and other nondrug options.[4]
The evidence for qigong is thin: a 2025 review found modestly better daily function and a pain difference below what patients typically notice.[1]
Once a doctor has checked your back, read how to try qigong safely.
See a doctor if the pain hasn't improved after a few weeks, and promptly if it comes with leg weakness, numbness, trouble passing urine or fever.[5]

What did the studies look at?

Qigong combines slow movement, breathing and focused attention. What is qigong? covers the basics.

The trials below enrolled adults whose chronic low back pain had no clear structural cause, which doctors call nonspecific. Most rely on questionnaires about pain intensity and how far the pain limits daily life. Common pain scales run from 0 to 10 or from 0 to 100, and the Oswestry questionnaire about everyday limits runs from 0 to 100 points.[6] A review pools the results of many trials. In a randomized trial, chance decides who gets which treatment.

Study	Who	Compared with	Result
2025 review, 16 trials	1,175 people, mostly under 60	Mixed control groups	Pain 1.34 points lower (scale 0 to 10), disability 5.88 points lower (Oswestry, 0 to 100).[1]
Berlin, 2015	127 adults, average age 47	Exercise therapy	Pain at 3 months 34.8 versus 33.1 (scale 0 to 100), no advantage.[2]
Berlin, 2016	176 adults 65 and older	No added treatment	No significant difference in pain.[3]
Bangkok, 2019	72 office workers, ages 20 to 40	Waiting list	Pain and function better than the waiting list.[7]

The 2025 review is the only one here that pools qigong trials alone. On the pain scale from 0 to 10, scores averaged 1.34 points lower with qigong than in control groups, while the authors put the smallest difference patients notice at 1.5 to 2 points.[1] On the Oswestry questionnaire about everyday limits, scored 0 to 100 with higher meaning more limited, the gap was 5.88 points.[1] The paper disagrees with itself on whether that matters: its abstract uses a threshold of 5 points, its results section 10.[1] The authors rate the quality of the evidence as minimal, 12 of the 16 trials were published in Chinese, and results varied widely from trial to trial.[1]

A second 2025 review pooled qigong with tai chi (8 trials, 729 adults) and reached a warmer verdict, rating most of its evidence moderate to high.[8] Against active comparisons such as yoga or exercise, though, the pain result for qigong alone did not reach statistical certainty.[8]

A network analysis compares several treatments at once. One from October 2026, covering 43 trials, found a clear pain difference only when Chinese movement practices, tai chi among them, were added to standard therapy.[9] It rates the certainty of its evidence as low to moderate.[9]

What do the studies not show?

That qigong keeps pace with exercise therapy. In the 2015 Berlin trial the two groups ended up close, but the trial could not show qigong was at least as good.[2]
That any benefit lasts. Programs ran 4 to 24 weeks, and the review authors call for longer follow-up.[8]
Which style is best. The 2025 review covers Baduanjin (the Eight Brocades, a set of eight movements), Liuzijue, Wuqinxi and others, and most of those styles rest on one or two trials.[1]
How much expectation matters. In most trials it stayed unclear whether participants and staff knew who was in which group.[1] Questionnaire answers can shift when people know they are getting a treatment.

US guidance favors exercise and rarely names qigong. The American College of Physicians' 2017 guideline tells patients with chronic low back pain to start with nondrug care: exercise, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, acupuncture and mindfulness-based stress reduction on moderate-quality evidence, plus options such as tai chi, yoga and spinal manipulation on low-quality evidence.[4] Qigong isn't on the list.[4]

The 2022 VA/DoD guideline, written for Veterans and military patients, addresses qigong directly. It suggests structured, clinician-directed exercise, with tai chi among the examples, and finds "insufficient evidence to recommend for or against yoga or qi gong."[10] It rates the quality of the qigong evidence as very low and counts delay of appropriate care as a possible harm if qigong replaces a more useful treatment.[10]

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes the research on qigong and pain as conflicting.[11]

The only head-to-head trial in the table ran in Berlin: 12 weekly 90-minute qigong classes against 12 weekly 60-minute exercise-therapy sessions. Pain scores at 3 months were nearly the same, and non-inferiority could not be shown.[2]

Does advice on tai chi apply to qigong?

Only in part. The two practices overlap, yet tai chi has its own trials and its own place in these guidelines, so a recommendation for one can't simply be borrowed for the other. Here is how qigong and tai chi differ.

Is yoga or Pilates a better choice?

The evidence can't say. A 2026 network analysis of 25 trials found no clear differences among yoga, Pilates, tai chi and qigong and rated its certainty as low.[12] In the 2016 Berlin trial of older adults, neither yoga nor qigong differed significantly from no added treatment.[3]

When should you see a doctor?

Qigong doesn't replace medical treatment, and new or severe symptoms belong with a doctor. NCCIH puts it plainly: don't use qigong to postpone seeing a health care provider about a medical problem.[11] The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases advises seeing a doctor if back pain hasn't improved after a few weeks.[5]

Get seen promptly if you have:

Tingling or loss of feeling.[5]
Pain after a fall or injury.[5]
Severe pain that medicine isn't relieving.[5]
Back pain with trouble passing urine, leg weakness or numbness, fever, or weight loss you didn't intend.[5]
Loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness in the groin. The VA/DoD guideline lists these as red flags that call for an emergency scan.[10]

How can you try qigong safely?

Once a doctor has looked at your back and sees no reason to hold off, you can try it at your own pace. According to the second 2025 review, the Berlin trials reported no serious adverse events, only minor, short-lived discomfort.[8] In the 2015 trial, 10 people in each group reported possible side effects such as muscle soreness, dizziness or pain.[2] The VA calls tai chi and qi gong safe under a skilled teacher, with the same cautions as other aerobic activity.[13] NCCIH says no research covers the safety of qigong in pregnancy, so talk with your provider first if you are pregnant.[11]

Start with a short, simple routine such as qigong for beginners. The Eight Brocades are the style that appears most often in the 2025 review.[1]
Move slowly and only as far as stays comfortable. If the pain gets worse, stop and call your doctor.
The Berlin classes ran weekly for 3 months.[2] A teacher can check your form, so see how to find a qigong class.
Read who should be careful with qigong before you begin.

Qigong for back pain: what studies show and what they don't

What did the studies look at?

What do the studies not show?

Does advice on tai chi apply to qigong?

Is yoga or Pilates a better choice?

When should you see a doctor?

How can you try qigong safely?

Sources

What did the studies look at?

What do the studies not show?

How does qigong compare with what doctors usually recommend?

Does advice on tai chi apply to qigong?

Is yoga or Pilates a better choice?

When should you see a doctor?

How can you try qigong safely?

Sources