Research On The Quick Acupuncture Sanli To Treat Pain Syndrome

Pain syndrome is one of the many diseases suitable for acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture is used widely in the clinical treatment of acute and chronic pain and can have curative effects. It is fast and simple, with largely non-toxic side effects and can play an important role in pain management.ObjectiveTo observe the efficacy of acupuncture treatment of acute lumbar sprain and neck stiffness using a new and faster acupuncture method. This article aims to review conventional acupuncture methods, compare previous clinical studies and improve the efficacy of acupuncture through this new method.BackgroundConventional acupuncture method involves using multiple acupuncture points, and leaving the acupuncture needle in certain points for approximately30minutes. A new method is proposed, using points St-36(zou san li), and point LI-10(shou san li). Compared with conventional acupuncture, this new method involves needling in and out once, uses only two points, and does not leave the needle in the body. As such, it is easily accepted by patients and uses less treatment time. It also has instant effects and causes less trauma for the patient.MethodsBackground literature research used a combination of keywords "acupuncture","lumbar sprain","neck stiffness","St-36" and "LI-10" Studies were taken from before2013, multiple Chinese and English journals including CNKI knowledge network of China,), Chinese biomedical literature database, weipu database, PubMed, EMbase and the Cochrane library. A thousand studies were found, and these were narrowed down to eight randomized controlled trials involving the review of points St-36and LI-10. Two clinical studies were performed. Clinical study one involved62consented patients with acute lumbar sprain randomly divided into either having the new acupuncture method (Group1), or conventional acupuncture method (Group2). Both groups had two courses of treatment, for3days each. Each treatment using the new method involved needling until response, which was usually less than1minute. Conventional acupuncture method required30minutes. Results were recorded after two courses of treatment. Clinical study two involved60consented patients with acute lumbar and had the same parameters and methods as clinical study one.ResultsClinical research resultsClinical study for lumbar sprainFor the new method treatment group, the cure rate was31.25%, and a total effective rate of78.13%. In the control group the cure rate was16.67%, total effective rate was53.34%. All results had statistical significance of P<0.05.Comparison was made using the waist pain VAS score, lumbar motion score and the pain rating index. After one course of treatment, the improvement in the Group1compared to the control group was statistically significant (P <0.01) for all scores. After one course of treatment compared with before treatment, the improvement in Group1was also statistically significant (P <0.01) for all scales. After two courses of treatment, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups for all scores.Clinical study for neck stiffnessFor the new method treatment group, the cure rate was33.33%for treatment group, with a total effective rate of80%. This compared to the cure rate for the control group of16.67%and total effective rate56.67%. All results had statistical significance of P<0.05.Comparison was again made with the waist pain VAS score, lumbar motion score and the pain rating index. After one course of treatment, once again, the improvement in the new method group compared to the control group was statistically significant (P<0.01) for all scores. After one course of treatment compared to before treatment, the improvement in Group1was also statistically significant (P<0.01) for all scales. After two courses of treatment, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups for all scores.ConclusionLiterature for acupuncture treatment of acute lumbar sprain and neck stiffness is lacking; especially new methods and good quality clinical studies. This study has shown that a new, two point rapid acupuncture treatment is more effective than conventional acupuncture for the treatment of pain syndrome.