Acupuncture and Aponia

Acupuncture is a part of traditional Chinese medicine, which incorporates the insertion of needles at various points on the body to cure several ailments, such as joint pain, nausea, etc. This has been used since antiquity and is a thriving practice today. According to Epicureanism, the absence of pain, Aponia, is the highest pleasure. With this in mind, would the acupuncturist and the patient, be indulging in perverted pleasures, despite the fact that one would be removing pain (or sickness) by adding pain? By extension, the field of surgery would be seen as radical, since it directly involves pain. Let me play the devil's advocate by saying that Acupuncture has not been scientifically proven to reduce pain or sickness, but that it does cure many people of their problems. The likely explanation for this phenomenon is the placebo effect.