I went in to look at the study that the article was based on. The results were essentially that there was a significant placebo effect in their double blind trials where people on placebos reported significant pain reduction. They also made a connection between usually high media attention on the subject to the significant placebo effects they observed.

They ultimate conclude there is a gap in the current research that needs to be filled by high-quality clinical trials before they can recommend it for pain relief.

It seems legitimate unfortunately but it still is just a call for more research on the subject which is exactly what it needs and that research will just give us a more complete picture on why it works.