ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of perpendicular and subcutaneous transverse needling at "Sanyinjiao" (SP6) on visceral pain behavior, arginine vasopressin (AVP) content in the serum, uterine tissues, spinal cord and hypothalamus and expression of AVP receptors AVPR1A and AVPR1B in the uterine tissues, spinal cord and hypothalamus in cold-stasis (stasis due to pathogenic cold) type dysmenorrhea rats, so as to explore their mechanisms underlying pain relief. METHODS: Forty female SD rats were randomly divided into blank control, model, perpendicular needling and transverse needling groups, with 10 rats in each group. The cold-stasis dysmenorrhea rat model was established by exposure in a freezer (-25 ℃) for 4 h, once daily for 5 days, and subcutaneous injection of estradiol benzoate (once daily for 10 days) and intra-abdominal injection of oxytocin injection (once). For rats of the two acupuncture groups, acupuncture needles were inserted into the bilateral SP6 perpendicularly or transversely to a depth of about 4-5 mm, and retained for 20 min. The abdominal pain behavior was assessed by recording the writhing latency and scaling the rats' writhing reactions after modeling. The contents of AVP in the serum, uterus, spinal cord and hypothalamus tissues were assayed using ELISA and the expression of AVPR1A and AVPR1B in the uterus, spinal cord and hypothalamus was measured by using Western blot and quantitative real time-PCR, respectively. RESULTS: After mode-ling and compared with the blank control group, the writhing latency was significantly shortened (P0.05). CONCLUSION: Both perpendicular and subcutaneous transverse needling at SP6 have an immediate analgesic effect in cold-stasis type dysmenorrhea rats, which may be related to their effects in regulating AVP levels and its receptor expression in the uterine and hypothalamus.
ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the efficacies of transverse needling versus perpendicular needling at myofascial trigger points in treating cervical spondylosis and sift out a needling direction for a better improving effect on myofascial pain syndrome such as cervical spondylosis. Method One hundred and six patients with cervical spondylosis were randomly allocated to two groups. The transverse needling group received transverse needling at myofascial trigger points and the perpendicular needling group, perpendicular needling at myofascial trigger points. The symptoms and signs of cervical spondylosis were scored and the VAS score was recorded in the two groups before and after treatment. Result In the two groups, the VAS score had a statistically significant pre-/post-treatment difference (P0.05). In the two groups, the cervical spondylotic symptom and sign score had a statistically significant pre-/post-treatment difference (P<0.05) and decreased after treatment. The cervical spondylotic symptom and sign score was significantly lower in the transverse needling group than in the perpendicular needling group after treatment; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The total efficacy rate was 94.0% in the transverse needling group, which was higher than 79.6% in the perpendicular needling group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Both transverse needling and perpendicular needling can remove myofascial trigger points and treat cervical spondylosis, but transverse needling at myofascial trigger points is superior to perpendicular needling at myofascial trigger points.