Clinical observation of reinforcing and reducing technique at Jiaji and ashi points for post-herpetic neuralgia

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of reinforcing and reducing technique at Jiaji and ashi points for post-herpetic neuralgia(PHN).Methods Seventy cases of PHN were randomly divided into a treatment group(35 cases) and a control group(35 cases),and 5 cases in the control group were dropped out.In the treatment group,the reinforcing and reducing technique at Jiaji and ashi points was applied.In the control group,electroacupuncture therapy was applied at the same acupoints.The treatment of 3 courses was required.The scores of visual analogue scale(VAS),Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI) and total clinical efficacy were compared before and after the treatment as well as one-month follow-up visit,separately,between two groups.Results After the treatment of 3 courses,the total clinical efficacy was not statistically significant between two groups(P0.05).The VAS and PSQI scores of two groups after the treatment and one-month follow-up visit were significantly decreased compared with those before the treatment(P0.01).The VAS scores in one-month of follow-up visit and PSQI scores after the treatment and one-month of follow-up visit in the treatment group were decreased compared with those in the control group,which both had significantly differences in statistics(P0.05,P0.01).Conclusion The reinforcing and reducing technique at Jiaji and ashi points for PHN has better effect of long-term analgesia and improvement of sleep quality than electroacupuncture therapy at the same acupoints.