• Peter S Micalos and Sok Cheon Pak.
• School of Human Movement Studies, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia. pmicalos@csu.edu.au
• J Altern Complement Med. 2011 Jan 1; 17 (1): 57-61.

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to assess the effect of manual acupuncture on experimental pain parameters in healthy participants.DesignThe experimental design was a repeated-measures, three-group pre- and postprocedure. All subjects participated in a control, sham, and acupuncture procedure, separated by 1 week, in a counterbalanced sequence to forestall an order effect.Settings/LocationData were collected in a laboratory environment.SubjectsThe participants included 12 healthy young men (mean age 21.3 ± 2.6 years; height 183.8 ± 5 cm; weight 77.7 ± 9.5 kg).InterventionsThe control procedure comprised assessing the experimental pain parameters before and after a quiet rest for 20 minutes. The sham procedure was performed with the needle inserted bilaterally 1-1.5 cm outside each acupoint. The manual acupuncture procedure was performed at two bilateral acupoints of LI-4 (Large Intestine 4, Hegu) and ST-44 (Stomach 44, Nei Ting).Outcome MeasuresPain parameters assessed included the pain threshold, nociceptive reflex threshold, and nociceptive reflex amplitude.ResultsRepeated-measures analysis of variance between pre- and postcontrol, sham, and acupuncture procedures for pain threshold, nociceptive reflex threshold, and nociceptive reflex amplitude revealed no significant difference.ConclusionsManual acupuncture at bilateral acupoints LI-4 and ST-44 did not show a change in pain threshold, nociceptive flexion reflex threshold, or the nociceptive reflex amplitude in healthy participants.

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