Acupuncture treatment of chronic facial pain--a controlled cross-over trial.

Abstract

SYNOPSISIn a controlled trial the effect of traditional Chinese acupuncture versus placebo acupuncture was evaluated in 16 patients with chronic facial pain (13 atypical facial pain, 2 atypical and I typical trigeminal neuralgia). All patients suffered from daily pain, the intensity of which was recorded by the patients over a period of 16 weeks. Each patient was treated by traditional Chinese acupuncture as well as placebo acupuncture in a cross‐over design following randomization. Each period of treatment comprised 10 treatments during two weeks of hospitalization.Traditional Chinese acupuncture was found to be significantly more pain‐relieving than placebo acupuncture according to the pain registration of the patients themselves and to their subjective preferences.