A Clinical Study Of The Pain Relief Of Typical Acupuncture Combined With The Huici Technique On The A-shi Acupoint Of Neck And Shoulder Myofascial Syndrome

ObjectiveTo determine the pain relief of typical acupuncture with or without Huici Technique on the A-shi Acupoint in cases of neck and shoulder Myofascial Syndrome.MethodThe study involved 60 patients with neck and shoulder Myofascial Syndrome. The patients were randomly divided into a group for treatment with typical acupuncture and the Huici Technique (TA+HC,n=30) and a group for treatment with typical acupuncture only (TA,n=30). The treatment for both groups was provided once per day for ten consecutive days. The pain relief measurements were taken by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS),the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ),and a Neck pain questionnaire (NPQ).All three measurements were taken both before and after the treatment.Results1. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups with regard to basal general information and the patients’ conditions (P> 0.05).2. In the intra-group comparison,there were significant differences in the measurements of VAS,NPQ,SF-MPQ (sensory,emotion,and total score) between the two groups.3. After the treatment,the TA+HC group showed more pain relief than the TA group. There were significant differences in the measurements of VAS and SF-MPQ (sensory and total score) but not in emotional score of SF-MPQ and NPQ,between the two groups.ConclusionBoth the typical acupuncture with or without Huici Technique on the A-shi Acupoint did relieve pain in cases of neck and shoulder Myofascial Syndrome,according to the measurements of VAS and SF-MPQ.More significantly the typical acupuncture with Huici Technique proved more effective than solely typical methods of acupuncture for pain relief of neck and shoulder Myofascial Syndrome.