Zapping the brain to boost Acupuncture's pain relief?

This study tested whether combining traditional acupuncture with a gentle, non-invasive brain stimulation technique (tDCS) could provide better pain relief for people with chronic low back pain. Researchers enrolled 116 adults with long-term back pain to receive different combinations of real or fake treatments for one month. The main goal was to see how this combination changed brain activity and connections related to pain processing, and if those changes led to less pain.