ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the clinical therapeutic effect of moxibustion on heat-sensitive acupoints on myofascial pain syndrome (MPS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Three-centre, single blind, randomized controlled trial method was adopted. One hundred and seven cases were randomly divided into an observation group (n = 57), and a control group (n = 50). The observation group were treated by moxibustion on the heat-sensitive acupoints and the control group by acupuncture, cupping and TDP. The therapeutic effects were assessed according to changes of the score of the short-form of McGill pain questionnaire composing of pain rating index (PRI), visual analogue scale (VAS) and present pain intensity (PPI) before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The cured rate of 86.0% in the observation group was better than 24.0% in the control group. After treatment, the score of PRI, VAS, PPI indexes significantly improved in the observation group (P < 0.001), and were significantly better than those in the control group (P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Moxibustion on the heat-sensitive acupoints has a high therapeutic effect on MPS.</p>