1. X Immediate effect of external acupoint application
of different herbs on joint and muscle pain
through crossing method
Silva Filho RC; Pavliuk S; Silva EC; Pretel D
INTRODUCTION
The application of Chinese herbs to acupoints is a traditional treatment option but unfortunately less and less used. Based on the conditions to be treated, based on the specific properties of each substance the practitioner can select which ones to use and also where to position it on the body. The crossing method to select the acupoint for treatment is a classical one, already presented on Huang Di Nei Jing.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluate the effectiveness of the crossing method of point selection associated with the effects of external application of different substances listed as Chinese Materia Medica.
METHOD
127 patients were recruited from EBRAMEC’s regular ambulatory clinic after reading and signing the consenting terms.
The subjects were divided in a randomized way into 4 different groups:
A: FuZi (Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata) 34; B: BaiJieZi (Semen Sinapsis Albae) 31;
C: YanHuSuo (Corydalis Rhizome) 38; D: control group with regular rice (Oryza Sativa) 24. X
The acupoints were selected using the crossing method, where points in one side of the body is used for the other side, based on these associations:
shoulder-hip, elbow-knee, wrist-ankle, fingers-toes.
After selection of the acupoint, a piece of the Chinese Materia Medica according to each group was pressed and taped on the acupoint. Each patient was evaluated by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) before and after the stimuli.
RESULTS
All subjects presented a better evaluation after treatment compared to before treatment, including control group. All treatment groups presented significant improvement on VAS. The statics analysis showed that immediate improvement efficacy of each was as follows: A- 51,52%; B- 72,63%; C- 62,08%; D- 54,47%.
CONCLUSION
The herbal application to acupoints seemed to be an effective treatment for joint and muscular pain through the acupuncture crossing method. Further studies and investigations shall be conducted with larger samples and possibly in a double blind randomized control trial.