A Randomized Clinical Trial of Auricular Point Acupressure for Chronic Low Back Pain : A Feasibility Study

Objectives. This prospective, randomized clinical trial (RCT) was designed to investigate the feasibility and effects of a 4-week auricular point acupressure (APA) for chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods. Participants were randomized to either true APA (true acupoints with taped seeds on the desig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine 2013-01, Vol.2013 (2013), p.1-9
Main Authors: Albers, Kathryn M., Cohen, Susan M., Ren, Dianxu, Huang, Li Chun, Suen, Lorna Kwai-Ping, Yeh, Chao Hsing, Glick, Ronald M., Morone, Natalia E., Primavera, Jaclyn, Chien, Lung Chang, Balaban, Devora, Sponberg, Rebecca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acupuncture
Clinical trials
Evidence-based medicine
Feasibility studies
Low back pain
Pain
Pain management
Seeds
Systematic review
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Summary:Objectives. This prospective, randomized clinical trial (RCT) was designed to investigate the feasibility and effects of a 4-week auricular point acupressure (APA) for chronic low back pain (CLBP). Methods. Participants were randomized to either true APA (true acupoints with taped seeds on the designated ear points for CLBP) or sham APA (sham acupoints with taped seeds but on different locations than those designated for CLBP). The duration of treatment was four weeks. Participants were assessed before treatment, weekly during treatment, and 1 month following treatment. Results. Participants in the true APA group who completed the 4-week APA treatment had a 70% reduction in worst pain intensity, a 75% reduction in overall pain intensity, and a 42% improvement in disability due to back pain from baseline assessment. The reductions of worst pain and overall pain intensity in the true APA group were statistically greater than participants in the sham group (P
ISSN:1741-427X
1741-4288
DOI:10.1155/2013/196978