Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec 1;33(6):403-409.
doi: 10.1089/acu.2021.0039. Epub 2021 Dec 16.

Auriculotherapy for Chronic Cervical Pain

Mariana Bonacossa Sant'Anna  1 , Lucas Bonacossa Sant'Anna  1 , Liaw Wen Chao  2 , Fernando Mendes Sant'Anna  3
Affiliations

Auriculotherapy for Chronic Cervical Pain

Mariana Bonacossa Sant'Anna et al. Med Acupunct. .

Abstract

Objective: Chronic cervical pain is a common and recurrent complaint. Auriculotherapy (AT) or ear acupuncture is an effective complementary method used for pain control, but only a few studies have evaluated this treatment for chronic cervical pain. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of AT to control chronic cervical pain and improve functional capacity. Materials and Methods: This study involved patients with at least 2 years of cervical pain and a neck disability index score (NDI) >5. AT was performed at detectable points once per week over 6 weeks. Patients were evaluated with the NDI and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain before and at 1 and 4 months after the final treatments. An analysis of variance test for repeated measures was used for comparisons. Results: During the study, 19 patients, with a mean (± SD) age of 44.5 ± 15.2 years, were enrolled. The majority of the patients were right-handed (89%) and female (79%). The median (interquartile range) disease duration was 48 months (range: 24-66 months ). An average of 4 ear points were used per session; the most frequent points used were: Shen men, Posterior Wall, Zero, and C1. Statistically significant decreases in NDI (15.58 ± 5.93) and VAS (4.76 ± 2.37) scores were observed at 1 and 4 months (8.84 ± 5.59; P < 0.0001 and 3.21 ± 2.12; P = 0.003, respectively) after AT treatment. Conclusions: AT can be used successfully as a complementary method to treat chronic cervical pain.

Keywords: auricular acupuncture; auriculotherapy; cervical pain; neck pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial conflicts of interest exist.

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Auricular points surveyed to determine auriculotherapy points to use for addressing chronic cervical pain.
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Neck Disability Index (NDI) before, and at 1 and 4 months after auriculotherapy. Values are shown as median (interquartile range). Grey lines represent mean ± standard deviation. ****P ≤ 0.0001 ANOVA, analysis of variance; ns, nonsignificant.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain before, and at 1 and 4 months after auriculotherapy. Values are shown as median (interquartile range). Grey lines represent mean ± standard deviation. ** P ≤ 0.01. ANOVA, analysis of variance; ns, not significant.
FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.
Summary of the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rouxeville Y. The Keys of Auriculotherapy: Clinics and Practice [in French]. Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium: Satas; 2016.
    1. Frangos E, Ellrich J, Komisaruk BR. Non-invasive access to the vagus nerve central projections via electrical stimulation of the external ear: fMRI evidence in humans. Brain Stimul. 2015;8(3):624–636. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rabischong P, Terral C. Scientific basis of auriculotherapy: State of the art. Med Acupunct. 2014;26(2):84–96. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alimi D, Chelly JE. New universal nomenclature in auriculotherapy. J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(1):7–14. - PubMed
    1. Nogier R. Health by the Ear [in French]. Paris, France: Mango; 2018.

LinkOut - more resources