I've had intramuscular stimulation acupuncture for my lower back problems (at 5th ave physio) and it worked amazingly. It was great for resetting your hurt back muscles and you could feel it work out the knots. I don't think that is the type of acupuncture people speak about when discussing "real or not" though, that's traditional chinese acupuncture.
here's a read on it (intramuscular is at the end):
http://www.fifthavephysiotherapy.com...cupuncture.php