Best Electronic Acupuncture Pen

Acupuncture therapy is part of traditional Chinese medicine and has been around for a very long time – at least 2,000 years.

Like acupressure and other traditional remedies, acupuncture has gone through phases of popularity and neglect, being regarded as effective in some eras, then ‘quack medicine’ in other eras. Jump forward to today and it is once again now being acknowledged as being effective in certain situations with certain people.

Acupuncture involves temporarily inserting tiny needles (sometimes heated) into your body at particular pressure points around the body, including the ears, back, hands etc.

Ancient Chinese acupuncture practitioners believed that a life-force called ‘Chi’ or ‘Qi’ flows through meridians in the body. This idea is related to Taoism and a similar idea was also found in forms of Chinese Kung Fu and other Chinese ‘internal’ martial arts, such as Tai Chi (hence the name), Hsing -I and Pau Gua. You get broadly similar ideas in Taekwondo and other arts form Korea, and Aikido and Karate from Japan. So, it’s a widespread idea. Now, jump forward to today and what is the best electronic acupuncture pen?

This might sound like a strange question about such ancient art as acupuncture. It was controversial for a very long while in the West and some dismissed it as superstition. Why then use the most modern technology? Today we know a lot about acupuncture and view it differently, as we will see.

Top 3 Electronic Acupuncture Pens

Before looking into the real facts about acupuncture, and the specifics on electroacupuncture, laser acupuncture, red light therapy and more, here are our top 3 best of the best electronic acupuncture pens.

EDITOR’s PICK
1. Breolife / Gosear / Blu-Beri Electronic Acupuncture pen
Best for versatile value for money
Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Breolife electronic acupuncture pens are also marketed as Gosear, Bangbreak (crazy name - right?) Doublex, and Blu-beri amongst very many others. This versatile and excellent value for money battery-powered acupuncture pen comes with a total of 27 combinations of settings and head types to deliver just the right amount of nerve stimulation.
Pros: — A lot of thought went into the interchangeable head design; — Very affordable; — Plenty of adjustments for just the right level of nerve activation. Cons: — Make sure you buy those rechargeable batteries.
CHECK PRICE
MORE DETAILS
2. Leawell 508B Meridien Detecting Acupuncture Pen
Best high – end acupuncture pen
Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Leawell has some clever stuff like auto Meridien detection – if you believe in that kind of thing... It’s not the cheapest but it’s very highly featured and some Leawell users swear by it.
Pros: — Rechargeable battery with a fast charging cycle; — Solidly made - looks and feels robust and professional; — Plenty of controls; — Choice of head types. Cons: — Needs a bit of time and practice to master.
CHECK PRICE
MORE DETAILS
3. ZOLARO R-12 USB Acupuncture Pen
Best ergonomics
Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
We like this Zolaro rechargeable pen’s design and functionality but most of all it has great ergonomics for home therapy. You even get a mini paint roller (OK we just made that up).
Pros: — Rechargeable so no battery costs or nasty battery-related pollution; — Great ergonomics; — 5 varied attachments for just the right effect; — Very reasonable price. Cons: — Some users (not all) get slight shocks when holding it (but this can be avoided by changing grip). Other vendors have this issue too.
CHECK PRICE
MORE DETAILS

---

Separating Acupuncture facts from folklore

OK, time for a short topical rant. In normal times we’d be talking about ratings and reviews, top popular brands, price and other costs etc. then make a recommended list of the best acupuncture pen for pain. That would be in normal times.

In normal times, if basically healthy people want to believe in ginseng, caraway seeds and hatha yoga – that’s all fine. If they want to spend their money on crystal healing or believe in bracelet magnets or astrology – none of those have any scientific basis for use but if you are healthy there’s not much harm in using any of them.

However, these are not normal times and there is a deadly virus killer out there. We live at a time when useless or even harmful ‘anecdotal medicine’ is in the news. Just because someone tells you the way to stop COVID-19 is to take a potentially dangerous malaria drug, or drink bleach or disinfectant, or to put a UV light inside yourself, does not mean you should do it. Even if the person saying it happens to run your country. It’s useless at best and dangerous at worst.

In the same way, be careful about some of the more outlandish claims for acupuncture – there is a lot of misinformation out there. It seems it can have real benefits but cannot be relied on in the way western medicine can.

In fact, we now know – definitively – that western medical acupuncture research shows that – in some specific use cases – acupuncture can and does work – with some people. The effect happens by stimulating the nerves. Acupuncture then releases endorphins (which work a bit like natural morphine to give you a feeling of well being or even a natural ‘high’) and serotonin, which is a natural painkiller. Now, some argue that that is not true, and the effect is, in fact, psychosomatic i.e. Acupuncture is a placebo effect. Even if that is the case, the clinical end result is still that the patient feels better. So, whatever your view, in one sense or another acupuncture ‘works’.

So, with a skilled practitioner, many people will find benefits dealing with back pains, migraines and in some cases, recent research suggests even some forms of cancer.

While some claims for acupuncture remain disputed, no less an authority than the CDC in America agrees that there is strong evidence for benefits, including reducing the side effects of chemotherapy, especially nausea and vomiting.

Clearly, there are things acupuncture does – but we can’t say strongly enough to stick with the science and do not rely on acupuncture for anything until you have spoken to your doctor about it. Ask a doctor ‘does it work in this case?’ which could be an ache, scars or for pain. Do not rely on some nut job on social media who wears tinfoil on their head to stop those government mind-control beams.

OK, rant over. Except to say stay away from all the anti-vac lunacy on the internet too. Stay safe and take care of yourself and your loved ones in these dangerous times.

Phew. Glad we got that out of our system. Back to the article.

These days an electronic acupuncture pen, (or the more rare and far more expensive cold laser acupuncture pens, like those sold by Medicomat, Lastek, or Atang) are commonly used in home therapy rather than traditional needles.

Now, we are going to go hunting for how to use an electronic acupuncture pen (a friend doing it is best) and ask questions on what’s cheap (or affordable) where to buy (that’s easy at the moment – buy online) and whether it makes sense to ask – since a laser pen for acupuncture can cost a thousand dollars or more than an electronic pen – does it make sense to compare the best laser acupuncture pen with an electronic version (that’s easy too – no you can’t really).

The Best Electronic Acupuncture Pens

Now that’s all those thorny questions answered, here is our full detailed list of the seven best electronic acupuncture pens.

---

---

1. Breolife / Gosear / Blu-Beri Electronic Acupuncture pen

Best for versatile value for money

Breolife electronic acupuncture pens are seemingly the go-to electronic home battery acupuncture pens as they are extensively white-labelled and sold under at least 4 other brand names – such as blu-beri. No wonder they are popular though, as they are real value for money and very versatile, with multiple head types supplied and a wide choice of settings. All that means is that you can try many ways to get exactly that natural pain-killing rush going via nerve stimulation. You get a contact head, a traditional spherical massage head, a scraping head, a tapping head and a rolling head.

The unit is powered by a traditional AA battery, which is not supplied and it is worthwhile discussing that. The advantages of using removable batteries is that the unit costs less to manufacture which means lower costs for you and a bit more profit for the vendor. You also don’t need to wait around for charging times. Sounds good? The downsides are, as we discuss elsewhere, that you need to keep buying and fitting AA batteries and that dead batteries with their noxious chemicals end up being dumped. That’s not very good for the planet. Plus, leaving an old battery in the unit can result in leaks. So, we’d recommend using rechargeable AA batteries, which is a good compromise.

Note that there seem to be some supply chain issues with some white-label models but the blu-beri version seems to be fine.

Verdict: We really like this pretty much universal model for its ease of use and reasonable price. A great contender for the best acupuncture pen crown.

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

2. Leawell 508B Meridien Detecting Acupuncture Pen

Best high – end acupuncture pen

The Leawell 508B (also marketed under the Ivolconn brand) costs a fair bit more than our Breolife at number 1 but comes with some quite different thinking behind it.

It is a rechargeable model for one thing and it has a lot of onboard dials and displays to help find the right acupuncture points, along with (lately) some useful charts. It can be used without conducting gel but it is better to get something – Aloe Vera gel, for example, can do the job. It’s a chunky unit with a good grip and a choice of different heads so it ‘does the business’.

Now, anyone who has an issue with the real value of acupuncture should remember that for some people, at least, the alternatives are taking tablets or other painkillers that have costs, possible side effects and can become a habit.

That is why the Leawell – even though it might be a bit whacky with some of its Meridien detection claims – is a good thing and we like it. It really does work for some people when used ‘correctly’. Whether that is a placebo effect or not is not relevant.

Verdict: Acupuncture is Chinese art and this model has been designed mainly for the Chinese market – you’ll see that when you read the Leawell manual. It’s a little tricky to master at first but once you understand it, the Leawell 508B is a very powerful tool. It’s a lot cheaper than repeated visits to an acupuncturist too.

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

3. ZOLARO R-12 USB Acupuncture Pen

Best ergonomics

We are a little skeptical about the Zolaro marketing statement ‘science and technology create human heath’ and then have a pen that claims to have power over Meridien but other than that, this is a great product for home acupuncture therapy. You aren’t a Jedi knight, there is no Force to be with you and this is not a lightsaber, but what it is is a practical way to feel better, reduce aches and pains, and generally feel a whole lot less pain of certain kinds. Another point is that if you are looking at price vs affordability, and are an eco-friendly type, then a rechargeable model should score a lot higher than one that gobbles up disposable AA batteries that end up poisoning the landfill.

So, that’s all good. We score a good 9/10 for the Zolaro R-12

Verdict: So long as you read the manual, you can really argue with the features of this pen at the price it sells for. What makes it even better value for money is not having to keep replacing batteries. A great model, albeit some will like it more than others do.

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

4. Pointer Excell II LT

Best model over $100

OK, we now come to the ’Cadillac’ of acupuncture pens. This is a T.E.N.S (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) pen for nerve stimulation that some acupuncture professionals use but which people buy for home use too.

You get a 0.35″ x 1.0″ LCD digital meter and you can set polarity, frequency (1 hertz to 16 hertz) etc. with two differently sized tips for ear stimulation (a big thing in acupuncture as there are links from points in the ear to various other body parts) or body stimulation. It works either left- or right-handed.

There is a supplied battery but overall, it’s not a rechargeable model.

There’s an interesting video on the Excel II LT here.

Verdict: If you are serious about home acupuncture and you are prepared to spend top dollar, the Excel II LT is worth a look.

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

5. TENS 7000

Best budget TENS

Although not strictly a straight acupuncture pen, we’ve included this best-selling and very popular TENS transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit model as it does an almost totally similar job of nerve stimulation and produces similar benefits. It’s a battery-powered design that sends impulses via pads, rather than needles. There are a variety of operating modes including variations of duration, power and modulation. There are many happy owners who claim they get relief from sciatica, back pain, carpal tunnel etc.

Verdict: OK, it’s not an acupuncture purists tool – but if it’s a practical and low-cost pain reduction solution you want – then a whole lot of people, use this Tens 7000 successfully every day. They can’t all be wrong. Can they?

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

6. Lastek Multifunctional Chinese acupuncture soft cold laser

Best entry-level acupuncture laser

Just for completeness and comparison, we’ve included a genuine Chinese acupuncture laser. They are in short supply at the moment most likely due to the global pandemic but they are available if you know where to look. At the best of times, they are pretty rare and don’t come up that much on review sites or social media.

Now a laser acupuncture set works a little differently from anything we have looked at so far. Bear in mind there is debate about how effective acupuncture is and also why some people really do find it effective. Laser acupuncture stimulates the nerves causing photophysical and photochemical effects via a cool low-intensity beam. There is a big debate on how and why this happens which is too detailed to go into here. Suffice to say that the laser process is totally harmless and some people, at least, report great benefits.

Verdict: If laser acupuncture has you interested and you want your own unit, this is a long way on from TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

7. VOROSY Handheld Pain Relief Laser Acupuncture

Best handheld laser unit

This neat little Vorosy unit is a fraction of the cost of the Lastek and designed for strictly home use only. This is (and is marketed as) a laser acupuncture unit – and has the same potential benefits as our #6 LAstek entry =- but some regard it as red light therapy (RLT).

RLT itself is a controversial treatment method – but again some users report great benefits. What we do know is that the skin does respond well to certain kinds of light and in fact, prolonged periods indoors or long grey winters can cause a medical condition known as SD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). So, one way or another, well worth checking this out for yourself.

Verdict: This Vorosy product has some big fans amongst users, plus some who don’t find it effective. We suggest you make your own mind up and if it works for you then that is great.

BACK TO TABLE

CHECK PRICE

Conclusion

We certainly have covered a lot of ground in this review of the best electronic acupuncture pens. We hope we have given you some unbiased and balanced insight into what’s out there and what your choices are. We hope we blended some reasoned looking askance at some claims with an appreciation that many people find treatments really seem to help them out. Always consult you doctor on any medical issue but equally, there’s nothing wrong with home acupuncture therapies that can help you out without the hassle and cost of going to high-fee acupuncture specialists.

EDITOR’s PICK
1. Breolife / Gosear / Blu-Beri Electronic Acupuncture pen
Best for versatile value for money
Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
CHECK PRICE
MORE DETAILS
2. Leawell 508B Meridien Detecting Acupuncture Pen
Best high – end acupuncture pen
Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
CHECK PRICE
MORE DETAILS
3. ZOLARO R-12 USB Acupuncture Pen
Best ergonomics
Our rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
CHECK PRICE
MORE DETAILS

We’d love to hear your feedback, so leave any points in the comments section. Thanks for reading.