A new clinical study indicates acupuncture for treatment of chronic rhinitis. Rhinitis is nasal congestion usually accompanied with post-nasal drip. There is irritation and inflammation of nasal tissue. If untreated, chronic rhinitis can last many years. Rhinitis can involve many complicated patterns such as nose bleeding, yellow or white phlegm in the sinus and throat, coughing, insomnia, unclear thinking, difficulties with breathing, asthma, and many other clinical complications. Acupuncture gave a 96% effective rate with 78% complete recovery.

Acupuncture Treatment Protocol

The needles were 0.35 mm (28 guage) in diameter and 40-50 mm in length. The acupuncture points chosen were: GB20 (Fengchi), LI4 (Hegu), and St36 (Zusanli). Supplementary acupuncture points were UB12 (Fengmen), UB13 (Feishu), Yintang (Ex-HN 3), and Du14 (Dazhui). Supplementary acupuncture points were chosen dependent upon differential diagnostics. In many cases, 20 minutes of manual needle manipulation were applied at each acupuncture visit. Tonification and reduction acupuncture needle techniques and moxa were chosen dependent upon excess, deficient, heat, and cold diagnostics.

Reference: An Hua, Qinhuangdao Port Hospital, Hebei, China. "Treatment  Chronic Rhinitis by Acupuncture." J. Acupunct. Tuina. Sci. 2010, 8 (5): 318
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A recent randomized, double-blind study concludes that both auricular (ear) acupuncture and body acupuncture are effective in reducing pre and post-operative anxiety. Pre and post-perative anxiety has been identified in approximately 80 percent of patients, which prompted this investigation. The study was conducted by experienced acupuncturists at the Xi Jing Hosptial (Xi’an, China).

The ear acupuncture group received needle stimulation at point ear Shenmen. The body acupuncture group received needle stimulation at Du20, SiShenCong, Yin Tang, Liv3, and St36. The needles were 0.25-.30 mm in diameter and ranged between 25-40 mm in length. Needle depth ranged from 0.2 cm to 0.5 cm. Acupuncture therapy was administered for a period of four weeks at two sessions per week for a total of eight acupuncture treatments. The treatment principles were to increase lucidity, tranquilize by nourishing the Heart, calm the nerves, and regulate the Qi.

Reference:

Shengjun Wu, Jie Liang, Xia Zhu, Xufeng Liu, Danmin Miao. “Comparing the treatment effectiveness of body acupuncture and auricular acupuncture in preoperative anxiety treatment.” JRMS 2010; 16(1): 39-42.