Clinical observations on treatment of post-herpes zoster neuralgia by along-skin point-through-point acupuncture

Objective To investigate an efficacy of along-skin point-through-point acupuncture for treating post-herpes zoster neuralgia.Methods Sixty patients were randomly allocated to treatment and a control groups. The treatment group was treated by along-skin point-through-point acupuncture of corresponding jiaji points and the control group, by routing selection of points. The curative effects were evaluated, and pain score, VAS score, and HAMD and HAMS scores were counted before and after treatment, in both groups. Results and Conclusion The cure rate and the total response rate were 60% and 96.7%, respectively, in the treatment group and 38.3% and 68.3%, respectively, in the control group, indicating that the curative effect was significantly better in the treatment group than in the control group (P0.05). There was a significant difference in VAS score between the two groups after treatment (P0.01), indicating that the analgesic effect was significantly better in the treatment group than in the control group.