Noneffect of Manual Needle Acupuncture on Experimental Pain Parameters in Healthy Young Men

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of manual acupuncture on experimental pain parameters in healthy participants. The experimental design was a repeated-measures, three-group pre- and postprocedure. All subjects participated in a control, sham, and acupuncture procedure, separated by 1 week, in a counterbalanced sequence to forestall an order effect. Data were collected in a laboratory environment. The participants included 12 healthy young men (mean age 21.3 ± 2.6 years; height 183.8 ± 5 cm; weight 77.7 ± 9.5 kg). The control procedure comprised assessing the experimental pain parameters before and after a quiet rest for 20 minutes. The sham procedure was performed with the needle inserted bilaterally 1-1.5 cm outside each acupoint. The manual acupuncture procedure was performed at two bilateral acupoints of LI-4 (Large Intestine 4, Hegu) and ST-44 (Stomach 44, Nei Ting). Pain parameters assessed included the pain threshold, nociceptive reflex threshold, and nociceptive reflex amplitude. Repeated-measures analysis of variance between pre- and postcontrol, sham, and acupuncture procedures for pain threshold, nociceptive reflex threshold, and nociceptive reflex amplitude revealed no significant difference. Manual acupuncture at bilateral acupoints LI-4 and ST-44 did not show a change in pain threshold, nociceptive flexion reflex threshold, or the nociceptive reflex amplitude in healthy participants.