Clinical Observation of Therapeutic Effect of Chinese Herbal Paraffin Therapy for Cervical Radiculopathy

Objective To observe the clinical effect of Chinese herbal paraffin therapy,which has the actions of dispelling wind and cold,removing dampness and dredging collaterals,activating blood to relieve pain,on treating cervical radiculopathy.Methods One hundred patients with cervical radiculopathy were equally randomized into two groups.The patients in the treatment group were given external application of Chinese herbal paraffin,which was mainly composed of paraffin and herbal medicines of prepared Radix Aconiti,Herba Asari,Fructus Evodiae,Folium Artemisiae Argyi,Radix Clematidis,Herba Phrymae Leptostachyae,Radix Angelicae Pubescentis,Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii,Radix Saposhnikoviae,Herba Lycopodii,Rhizoma Chuanxiong,Lignum Sappan,and Flos Carthami.The control group was only treated with paraffin therapy.Short-term therapeutic effect and the efficiency after 3-month follow-up were evaluated,and the scores of clinical manifestations were compared in both groups.Results The total effective rate was 95.8% in the treatment group and 82.6% in the control group,and the difference was significant between the two groups(P0.01).The scores of clinical manifestations were improved in both groups after treatment(P0.05 or P0.01 compared with those before treatment),and the improvement in the treatment group was superior to that in the control group(P0.05).The results of 3-month follow-up showed that the treatment group had better long-term therapeutic effect than the control group(P0.05).Conclusion Chinese herbal paraffin therapy,which has the actions of dispelling wind and cold,removing dampness and dredging collaterals,activating blood to relieve pain,is effective on relieving symptoms of cervical radiculopathy,and can promote the early rehabilitation of the patients.