Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2006; 11: 49
De qi is assumed to be an essential element for successful acupuncture treatment in some acupuncture schools. However, it is regarded as one of the factors which should not affect reliability of sham needling. To assess needle sensation caused by genuine needling and sham needling.
Forty-one healthy acupuncture-naive university students (25 males/16 females; mean age 23.5, range 19–36). The subjects received two sessions of different stimulations. We used Park Sham Needles in one session and genuine acupuncture needles in the other. The left LI 4 acupoint was stimulated with either needle manually. Immediately after the stimulation, the subjects were asked to fill in a form of acupuncture sensation scale (ASS), which was developed by Vincent et al. (1989). ASS was translated into Japanese language referring to McGill Pain Questionnaire Japanese version. Averages of ASS in each factor proposed by Vincent et al. were calculated.
Averages of ASS in each factor of needle sensation were as follows: 0.53 in ‘dull-heavy sensation’, 0.42 in ‘general intensity’, 0.59 in ‘spreading’, 1.09 in ‘stinging’, 0.15 in ‘hot’, 0.72 in ‘sharp’ and 0.56 in ‘electric’ caused by the genuine needling; 0.24, 0.15, 0.28, 0.84, 0.13, 0.39 and 0.15 in the sham session, respectively.
There were considerable differences in sensation between the sham needling and the genuine needling. The results suggest that we cannot equate sham needling with genuine needling regarding needling sensation. In acupuncture trials, ‘sham’ needling should be regarded as one type of acupuncture, not the equivalent of ‘placebo tablet’.
