This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of acupoints and the factors influencing their positive reactions during balance acupuncture therapy for neck, shoulder, low back, and leg pain. A total of 426 patients with these conditions were investigated through consecutive sampling. The acupoint characteristics in patients with shoulder, low back, and leg pain were observed, and the factors influencing positive reactions during treatment were examined using logistic regression analysis. For low back pain, the positive reaction rates for subjective discomfort and color variation were higher on the affected side compared with the contralateral side, whereas the positive reaction rates of epidermal alteration and tenderness were lower ( P < 0.05). For acupoints related to painful arthropathy, the affected side showed higher positive rates of subjective discomfort, color variation, and subcutaneous morphological changes, but a lower positive rate of tenderness compared with the contralateral side ( P < 0.05). The positive rate of contralateral acupoints was associated with disease duration in cases of neck and shoulder pain as well as painful arthropathy, and with gender in low back pain ( P < 0.05). On the affected side, the positive reaction rate was significantly associated with both gender and disease duration in patients with neck and shoulder pain, low back pain, and painful arthropathy ( P < 0.05). Overall, the findings indicate that acupoints for neck, shoulder, low back, and leg pain demonstrate a high and relatively specific rate of positive reaction during balance acupuncture therapy.
Lu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.