Comparative Study of Dog Days Moxibustion and Placebo for the Treatment of Clinical Manifestations in Allergic Rhinitis Patients

Objective To compare the efficacy of dog days moxibustion with placebo in improving clinical symptoms and signs in allergic rhinitis patients.Method Sixty allergic rhinitis patients were enrolled and allocated,using a random number table,to two groups,a dog days moxibustion group of 28 cases(2 drop-out) and a placebo group of 26 cases(4 drop-out).Improvements in the clinical manifestations were observed in the two groups.Result Every symptom and sign marks,the symptom score,the sign score and the clinical manifestation score decreased in the dog days moxibustion group at the end of treatment and the follow-up(P0.05).Nose itches,watery nasal discharge and nasal obstruction marks,nasal concha and mucosa sign marks and eye sign marks increased(P0.05) and sneezing and nasal mucosa color marks decreased(P0.05) in the dog days moxibustion group of patients at the follow-up compared with the end of treatment(P0.05).Eye sign marks decreased in the placebo group of patients at the follow-up(P0.05).Every symptom and sign(except eye sign) marks,the symptom score,the sign score and the clinical manifestation score decreased significantly at the end of treatment(P0.05) and sneezing marks,nasal concha and mucosa sign marks,nasal mucosa color marks,the sign score and the clinical manifestation score decreased significantly at the follow-up(P0.05) in the dog days moxibustion group compared with the placebo group.Conclusion Dog days moxibustion can markedly improve most symptoms and signs of allergic rhinitis.