Acupressure at Yin Tang to Decrease Pain from Acupuncture Needles.

 

In researching the last post I came across this paper about using acupressure at Yin Tang to ease the pain of acupuncture needle insertion!  I’ve thought about this before in the clinic since some patients are quite sensitive to the needles.  I had always thought more about reflexology points, or ear acupuncture, but pressure Yin Tang, quite elegant!! Though for time’s sake, I really like the press tack approach.
Anesth Analg. 2008 Aug;107(2):661-4.
The effect of acupressure at the extra 1 point on subjective and autonomic responses to needle insertion.
Arai YC, Ushida T, Osuga T, Matsubara T, Oshima K, Kawaguchi K, Kuwabara C, Nakao S, Hara A, Furuta C, Aida E, Ra S, Takagi Y, Watakabe K.
Multidisciplinary Pain Center, Aichi Medical University, 21 Karimata, Nagakutecho, Aichigun, Aichi 480-1195, Japan. arainon@aichi-med-u.ac.jp
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Premedication with sedatives can decrease the discomfort associated with invasive anesthetic procedures. Some researchers have shown that acupressure on the acupuncture extra 1 point is effective for sedation. We investigated whether acupressure on the extra 1 point could alleviate the pain of needle insertion.
METHODS:
We investigated the effect of acupressure at the extra 1 point or a sham point on needle insertion using verbal rating scale (VRS) pain scores and heart rate variability (HRV). ..
RESULTS:
Acupressure at the extra 1 point significantly reduced the VRS, but acupressure at the sham increased the VRS. Acupressure at the extra 1 significantly reduced the low frequency/high frequency ratio of HRV responding to needle insertion.
CONCLUSIONS:
Acupressure at the extra 1 point significantly reduced needle insertion pain compared with acupressure at the sham point. Also, acupressure at the extra 1 point significantly reduced the low frequency/high frequency ratio of HRV responding to needle insertion, which implies a reduction in sympathetic nervous system activity.
full article here