Failure of Acupuncture to Produce Localized Changes in Subjective Cold Pain Ratings

Lynn, B.

Perl, E.R.

Advances in Pain Research and Therapy

1976

1

755-759

RCT

Healthy Subjects

Anesthesia and Analgesia

Pain

RCT

Acu Versus Acu

Acu Versus CAM Control

Electroacupuncture

TCM Acupuncture Style

Fixed Acupuncture Protocol

Restricted Modalities, Acupuncture Only

CAM Control

In a previous study (7,8) it was found that acupuncture produced only small, widely spread increases in pain threshold and decreases in pinprick discrimination. It seemed possible that our failure to find the spatial pattern of changes predicted by acupuncturists was because of using tests that involved only threshold levels of pain, and that tests involving stronger stimulation might reveal a different pattern of changes. The publication of a number of reports (2,4,10,11) which claimed that suprathreshold pain assessments were reduced by acupuncture of traditional points, but not by acupuncture at "placebo" points, further encouraged us to reexamine the efficiency of acupuncture using similar tests. A method for producing graded cold pain at a variety of places on the body surface was therefore developed. The results obtained using it to study changes during acupuncture are reported herein.

24

Healthy Subjects

24

1 Day