Objective To compare the therapeutic efficacy between warm needling therapy and electroacupuncture in treating periarthritis of shoulder.Method Warm needling group(n=91) and electroacupuncture group(n=82) were treated by selecting the same acupoints,i.e.Jianyu(LI15),Jianliao(TE14),Jianzhen(SI9),Quchi(LI11),Waiguan(TE5),and Ashi points were selected as the major points.Recovery rate was evaluated respectively after 2 treatment courses and 3 treatment courses.Result After 2 treatment courses,the recovery rate was 79.1% in warm needling group versus 64.6% in electroacupuncture group,and the difference was statistically significant(P0.05);after 3 treatment courses,the recovery rate was 91.2% in warm needling group versus 81.7% in electroacupuncture group,and the difference was statistically insignificant(P0.05).Conclusion Both warm needling and electroacupuncture can achieve satisfactory therapeutic efficacy in treating periarthritis of shoulder,while the former has a higher early-stage recovery rate compared to the latter.