Cervical spondylosis is a common problem among the middle-aged and the elderly. However, in recent years, increasing number of cases has been observed in the younger population. Since 1996, we have chosen pestle needle to treat the patients with cervical spondylosis and keep comparing its effectiveness with regular acupuncture. A comparative study between regular and special acupuncture was done by Jiang Zhenya and Li Chengdu at the Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Total 60 patients were randomly divided into the pestle needle group (treatment group) and the regular acupuncture group (control group) with 30 patients in each group.
Treatment Methods
Treatment Group
Points: Dazhuibazhen, C4-C7 Jiaji (EX-B2), Jianyu (LI15), Quchi (LI11), Waiguan (SJ5). The location of Dazhuibazhen: 1 cun, 2 cun, 3 cun lateral to the Dazhui (GV, DU 14).
Manipulation: The patients were seated with their upper limbs loosened and heads hanging slightly. The pestle needle is made of ox horn, jade, and metal of 10 cm length. It comprises a tip, a handle, and a body. The needle was held in the same manner as a pencil is held. The pestle needle was pressed on Dazhuibazhen from shallow to deep in the skin repeatedly. The pestle was manipulated for 30 minutes.
The patients were treated once daily, one course of treatment consisted of six sessions with a one-day interim between the courses. Fili form needles (diameter: 0.38 mm, length: 50 mm) were used on the other points. Jiaji (EX-B2) was needled bilaterally to a depth that caused numbness and distension or an electrical sensation. The points on the attacked limbs were needled to a depth that caused numbness or distension. The needles were retained for 30 minutes and manipulated once every 10 minutes. The patients received the same treatment once each day. One course consisted of six sessions. Traction was used as a supplementary treatment.
Control Group
Except for Dazhuibazhen, the points needled and the manipulation were similar to those used in the treatment group. A comparison of the curative effect was given after three courses.
RESULTS
Comparison of score between groups: before treatment, the scores of the treatment group and the control group are 12.37±3.26 and 12.24±3.18, P>0.05. After treatment, the former is 6.40± 1.82 and the latter is 6.52± 1.96. By comparing before-treatment with after-treatment, there was a significant improvement in two groups (P<0.05). The results showed that the total effective rate of special acupuncture group is 93.3 per cent and that of the regular acupuncture group is 90 per cent with no statistical significance (P> 0.05) but there was a statistical difference with the cured rate (P < 0.05).
DISCUSSION
Cervical spondylosis, is a syndrome whose characteristics are cervicodynia, omalgia, numbness of upper limbs, vertigo, fatigue, cataplexy, abnormal sweating, staggering gait and paralysis due to degeneration of the intervertebral disc of the neck and hyperosteogeny of the cervical vertebrae. The pestle needling therapy, as a special form of acupuncture, was first adopted by the well-known practitioner Li Zhongyu. It relaxes the cervical anatomy tissue, enhances blood circulation, facilitates absorption of local inflammation to relieve the pressure on the nerve fiber and enables the patient to return to his or her normal activities.
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