Clinical study on acupuncture plus auricular point sticking for tension-type headache / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus auricular point sticking for tension-type headache (TTH). Methods: A total of 90 TTH patients were divided into an acupuncture group, an auricular point sticking group and an observation group by random number table method, with 30 cases in each group. Patients in the observation group received acupuncture plus auricular point sticking for treatment, while those in the acupuncture group only received acupuncture and those in the auricular point sticking group only received auricular point sticking for treatment. The headache attack frequency and the scores of visual analog scale (VAS), self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS) were observed before treatment, after treatment and 3 months after treatment. The clinical efficacy was evaluated at the follow-up of 3 months after treatment. Results: At follow-up, there were significant differences in clinical efficacy among the three groups (P<0.01 or P<0.05), and the clinical efficacy ranking from high to low was the observation group, the acupuncture group and the auricular point sticking group. After treatment and at follow-up, the VAS score, headache attack frequency, SAS and SDS scores in the three groups were significantly lower than those before treatment (all P<0.01). The above four results in the observation group were lower than those in the acupuncture group and the auricular point sticking group at the same time point (all P<0.01); VAS score in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the auricular point sticking group (both P<0.05). At follow-up, the headache frequency in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the auricular point sticking group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Either using acupuncture and auricular point sticking together or separately can reduce the headache degree of TTH patients, reduce the number of headache attacks, and relieve anxiety and depression. The efficacy of acupuncture plus auricular point sticking is most significant.