Acupoint Herbal Patch For Allergic Rhinitis: A Randomised Controlled Trial

According to the change of life style and environment, people with allergic rhinitis and asthma are increasing rapidly. This research is an attempt to study the change of T-IgE,ECP,SF-36 and Rhinitis scores for participants with allergic rhinitis treatrd with Herbal point-patch.A single blind, randomize, placebo-controlled and parallel designs were employed in research.43 eligible participants were screened from outpatient of ENT and Chinese medicine in Da-lin Buddhist Tzu-chi General Hospital. There were 33 eligible participants who had completed the research.Participants used Chinese herbal point-patch once a week, for 3 hours each time. The treatment cycle was 3 weeks in duration. There were two treatment cycles for each participant. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups:a control group (reference group) and an experimental group. After each cycle was done, a questionnaire was given to the participants to assess the effectiveness of the treatment.At the end of two cycles, each participant was asked to return to the OPD to check for blood serum (T-IgE,ECP) and fill out the questionnaire (Rhinitis severity assessment,SF-36).The data reveal the utility of using the point-patch for the allergic rhinitis,especially with symptoms of sneeze (P=0.001), running (P=0.047) and nose itching(P=0.047). Through the SF-36's 8 items, the result indicates distinct improvement in GH (general health,P=0.010) and VT (vitality,P=0.013).