Auriculotherapy fails to relieve chronic pain. A controlled crossover study
- 24 February 1984
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in JAMA
- Vol. 251 (8), 1041-1043
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.251.8.1041
Abstract
Enthusiastic reports of the effectiveness of electrical stimulation of the outer ear for the relief of pain (auriculotherapy) have led to increasing use of the procedure. Auriculotherapy was evaluated in 36 patients suffering from chronic pain, using a controlled crossover design. The 1st experiment compared the effects of stimulation of designated auriculotherapy points, and of control points unrelated to the painful area. A 2nd experiment compared stimulation of designated points with a no-stimulation placebo control. Pain-relief scores obtained with the McGill Pain Questionnaire failed to show any differences in either experiment. Auriculotherapy is not an effective therapeutic procedure for chronic pain.This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Alterations in rat central nervous system endorphins following transauricular electroacupunctureBrain Research, 1981
- An experimental evaluation of auricular diagnosis: The somatotopic mapping of musculoskeletal pain at ear acupuncture pointsPain, 1980
- The language of low back pain: Factor structure of the McGill pain questionnairePain, 1980